Please Remember Me
by lunaticcxx
Summary: Alexis Fortis sees her life change, when her father gets a job offer and she has to move to England with her family. When she meets Charles Xavier, her new school's principal, she never thought their story would come to such end. (AU)
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 –Not exactly a "surprise"**

The sun entering my room woke me up quickly and way too early. After all it was spring break and sleeping in is kind of the whole purpose of it, right?

I knew I wasn't going to be able to make myself fall back asleep so, to my great dislike and rubbing my eyes, I decided it was time for breakfast and a run to the park with the dog.

I put on a pair of shorts, caught my hair up in a ponytail and went to the bathroom right down my hall to wash my face. The cold water hit my skin and woke up all my senses, making me shiver. "Well, that was unpleasant…" I thought to myself.

"Mom!" I called walking to the kitchen.

"You're up early. Want pancakes?"

"Yes, please." I replied, getting the liquid chocolate from the fridge.

"I was expecting you at half past twelve, I even asked your father to come in later for lunch."

I grinned and stuffed my mouth with a piece of pancake.

"What possessed you to get up so early?" she asked sitting next to me and stealing a bite of my breakfast.

"It's not that early, mom."

"It's ten in the morning, Alexis." Mom mocked stealing another bite.

"Anyway…I was thinking if I could take Oliver to the park to get some air. Is that ok?"

"Of course, darling. Be home early, though, alright?"

"Yes." I replied putting the dishes in the washer.

* * *

The water fell down my stomach and calmed the back pains I had been having for quite sometime. Taking a shower always made me relax, especially when the water was hot. I thought about the people from school and how I wouldn't have to put up with them for a while. I thought of how the bruises on my arms would eventually disappear, even knowing that when classes started again they would probably come back. I wondered if I would be able to stay away from Matty the whole time we were on break and I thought that maybe I should call him.

Matty had been my best friend since we were kids. He moved in with his mom, after his parents got divorced, when we were both 7 and we went to school together until the 8th grade, when his mom remarried and he had to move to another city with her and his stepdad. We kept in touch and he comes over for the weekends while I go to his house every summer for 2 weeks. But his mom decided to go on a small vacation abroad for spring break which meant I wouldn't see him for a while. We spoke through Skype a couple of days ago, before he got on the plane. He looked so excited to go that I couldn't break his heart by saying I'd miss him and by crying so I just smiled while he told me the plans him and Mrs. Campbell had made for their adventure in Italy. When it was time to go I waved and so did he, with a promise that he would call at the first chance he had. I said "See you later." He said "Stay safe, Alex." And the camera went out.

* * *

The park was very silent apart from the children in the swings, smiling and screaming at every push their parents gave on the swing.

There was a very light breeze in the air, but not enough to make me feel cold in only my t-shirt and jeans. Oliver looked a bit fed up with being on a leash so I released him and sat on a bench, while he ran around like a maniac chasing the butterflies and barking at the slow walking people. I swear to god that dog gets me…

"What are you doing here?" a way too familiar voice said.

I smiled wide and got up to hug him.

"I could ask you the same thing, dad!"

"I just came to get some champagne and flowers for your mom, across the street."

"Are we celebrating something?!" I smiled and raised my eyebrow at him. He knew how curious I was.

"It's a surprise. Get Oliver and let's go, the car's right over there."

Thomas Fortis, my father, was still a very handsome and charming man in spite of his 45 years of age. His blue eyes were still as vivid as they were when he was 20, so my mother says, and even though his hair was turning grey, it actually gave him a mature and sophisticated look. He was hard working, sometimes even too much, but even in the hardest days, when he was so tired he could barely sit through dinner, he would always bring my mom flowers, every day, even if it was just one.

* * *

"Abby, we're home!" dad shouted as we entered our house.

"Wait…we?" mom said with a smile as she met us in the hallway. "Just in time, lunch is almost ready."

Dad placed a gentle kiss on mom's lips and handed her a big bouquet of red roses. "Here you go, sweetheart." he said.

"I get a whole bouquet? What are you not telling me?"

Dad chuckled and took the bottle of champagne out of its bag. "I will tell you at lunch, but first I'm going to get this in the fridge."

Mom looked at me, her green eyes sparkling with expectation. She gave me a questioning look to which my response was merely a shrinking of shoulders.

* * *

Finally lunch was served: stewed chicken with mushrooms and vegetables. Mom was the best cook ever and as such she tried to teach me, which quickly turned into a disaster as I had tragically and unfortunately inherited my dad's abilities in the kitchen that, ironically, resembled those of a boiled potato.

"So…" mom started, "Are you going to tell us?"

I could practically hear the expectation grow in her voice.

"I got a promotion!" dad announced with a smile spread all over his face. "Surprise!" he added.

Mom got up and hugged him excited with the news.

"Congratulations, dad. What's the promotion?" I questioned.

"Well, that's when it gets tricky…"

Mom and I went silent.

"The promotion is for me to be head of the European business department."

"Dad…" I whispered "Where?"

"England." he said cautiously.

"England?" I repeated to myself.

"Well, that's not so bad, is it? I'm sure we'll adapt just fine…"

"England, dad? England?" I shouted interrupting my mom.

"Honey, I know it's sudden, but…"

"Mrs. Campbell already took Matty to another city and you want to take me to another continent?"

Neither of my parents replied.

"When do we have to go?" I tried hard to calm myself down.

"Well, my secretary has already started making arrangements for your school transference and your mom is a writer, she can work anywhere…" he explained and paused to see if I would reply, when he realized I was still quiet, he proceeded " the house and the car are offered by the company. Alexis, I need you to understand that this is a great opportunity for us, for the three of us."

"Yeah, dad." I got up and left the dining room without saying another word.

"Alexis…" mom called preparing herself to follow me to my room when dad stopped her.

"Let her be alone, darling. She needs to digest this and adjust her mind. She'll talk to us when she's ready."


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 – England**

I spent the next 3 days packing everything I owned into boxes, luckily for me what I owned wasn't much and many of the things got thrown in the trash or given to charity. It was only when I finished that I realized how empty life actually is, when I sorted everything I owned and am, everything that defines me as a person, into packages.

Dad sent most of the things in advance, leaving each one of us with one suitcase containing some clothes and personal objects to take on the plane. We were leaving Massachusetts at 8pm in a 7 hour long direct flight to London, meaning we would be getting there at 3am, Massachusetts time, and 8am, London time. I wasn't excited to feel the horrors of jetlag, but what is the uncomfort of jetlag compared to moving to a new country? We would be spending the morning and lunch in London, because mom insisted in visiting, and afterwards we would be taking the train in Paddington Station from London to Oxford, a journey that would take up to 60 minutes and would finally lead us to the city we would be living in.

Kylie, dad's assistant, spent the whole morning showing me pictures of my new school and putting me up to speed with the program. I was going to be the new girl, from a different country, arriving in the middle of the school year and I was far from being excited. I'd be seeing Matty a lot less as well which was definitely a downside and a big contribution to my reluctance towards going, but I had to do it, for mom and dad I had to.

* * *

"Hey, Alex." Matty's voice echoed through my phone.

"Hi." I replied in no more than a whisper.

"Ready for 7 hours of pure boredom?" he laughed making me smile.

"Should I sleep through it?" I asked

"Well, it wouldn't be such a bad idea considering that you get to London in time for breakfast." he stated.

"You're right. I'll try to sleep."

"You're going to be fine, Alexis. You know that, right?"

"I guess." I shrunk my shoulders.

"No, no, no. You _know_! You're an amazing person, Alex. You just need to let everyone see the real you, like I do."

"I'm going to miss you." I replied looking at the watch.

"Thank god for the internet, then."

"I have to go in a few minutes…"

"Yes and you have to rest and don't forget to eat well!"

"Sure, dad." I teased him and it made him laugh.

"I love you, peanut."

"I love you too."

And the call went down.

* * *

It was uncomfortably quiet on the plane. - Do you know those people that talk nonstop about how much they hate being on a plane with kids? Well, I'd give anything to hear a child's laugh right now or, you know, at least someone talking nonstop about how much they hate kids on planes…either one would be fine. – I'd been on that plane for 3 hours and as far as I could count I had had 6 attempts at sleeping, all failed miserably as expected. My dad fell asleep almost instantly and my mom was on her laptop struggling to finish the first chapter of her new novel. She always struggled with first chapters, even knowing exactly what she wanted to happen, nothing ever seemed right there yet. As a 40 "too good looking to be 40" year old woman, Abby Fortis was, like my dad, charming and in a very good shape. She was tall and her blonde hair was always incredibly straight and shiny. Her green eyes could see beauty in everything and were always lurking for something that would inspire her for a new book. Dad said he fell in love with her smile. Mom said she fell in love with his dorkiness. They were the perfect couple, they worked together and it was visible from a mile away.

* * *

I felt something grabbing my arm and then stroke my face gentle. I opened my eyes and my mom was standing in front of me.

"Wake up…" she whispered.

I rubbed my nose and closed my eyes again.

My mom chuckled. "You look like a cat when you wake up."

I smiled and yawned, noticing my seat belt was buckled.

"We kind of have to leave the plane, sweetheart."

I opened my eyes and took the seat belt off, looking at the stewardess. She smiled at me and I mouthed an apology to her.

"You couldn't have woken me up when they announced the plane was descending, couldn't you?" I turned to my dad.

"We tried but you weren't having it." he muffled my hair "Sleepy head."

I smiled but I was still sleepy. "I need to go to the bathroom." I announced right before my stomach decided to pronounce itself.

"And eat too, apparently." dad mocked me.

* * *

"We have to be standing in front of Big Ben, at midday!" my mother repeated excited.

"Why do you keep insisting on this?" Mr. Fortis asked.

"Because it is good luck and we're starting a new chapter of our lives." she replied.

"We _could_ use the luck, dad." I said mocking mom, which made dad laugh but went unnoticed by her, since she was all caught up in her observations and analysis of the British way of life.

"Everyone looks so busy, here." she said "In Massachusetts everything is so calm and quiet."

A boy around 4 years old passed by me running and almost knocked me down.

"Yeah…" I mumbled "It's why I liked it."

"I am so terribly sorry!" the boy's mother said approaching me, while his dad kept chasing after the little guy. "John! Jesus Christ…" the boy's father yelled.

"It's alright, don't worry. It's fine." I replied.

The woman smiled and kept walking towards her husband, already picking little John up in his arms.

"Kids." Dad said putting his arm around me. "We should get Pringles to eat on the train."

"I…" mom interrupted me.

"Oh no!" mom said "Not with the Pringles again."

"It's not my fault you have terrible taste in Pringles, babe."

They never seem to agree on the Pringles and it never ceases to make the three of us laugh.

* * *

After finally seeing Big Ben at midday, and mom being super happy with her little victory over me and my dad, we went to have lunch. We all had roast beef, because why the hell not and because we were too lazy to even ask for something different (jet lag).

It was time for the train ride. We got in a cab that took us to Paddington Station. It was a big, metallic looking and sort of fancy place. Everyone was in a rush walking from side to side. People were getting on trains, people were leaving trains, people were buying tickets and I started to feel a little bit overwhelmed and dizzy from all the commotion around me.

"Right, ok…" dad began "So my new assistant is supposed to meet me here. I don't know where he is."

"Do you know what he looks like?" mom said.

"No.

"Brilliant, Tom."

"Mr. Fortis?" a voice called from behind us "Thomas Fortis?"

Dad turned around "Yes. Mr. O'Sullivan?"

"Daniel, please." The tall, handsome, blue eyed and blond coordinated man nodded, introducing himself and shaking my dad's extended hand. He couldn't be over 30 years old and if he was, he was very well conserved.

"You're very young." mom perceived "How old are you?"

"I'm 26 years old, mam." He replied with a heavy Irish accent.

"Nice to meet you, Daniel. I'm Abby, Mr. Fortis' wife and this is Alexis, our daughter." She began to inform.

"The pleasure is mine, Mrs. Fortis. Mr. Fortis if you and your family would care to follow me, please? I mean, if you are ready to board."

"Everything set?" dad asked us.

Me and mom both nodded and the four of us started walking towards the train.

"I'm going to miss Kylie." I whispered to mom.

"Me too." She replied.

* * *

Dad opened the door to our already fully furnished new home and we started to give ourselves a tour. The house had 3 bedrooms (1 of them being the suite bedroom which was my parents'), 1 office, 2 bathrooms (one big and one small, not including the suite's bathroom), the living room, the kitchen and the pantry, not to mention the big yard with barbeque we had in the back. Mom was very happy about the kitchen, it was big and functional and had an amazing oven for her amazing roasts and dad delighted himself with his office, beautifully decorated and with a very calming vibe to it. The living and dining room were just amazing beyond any comparison. They were cozy and decorated with warm colors that made the whole thing seem very rustic and warm and just a place to hang out with the whole family and friends. I was very happy with everything I had seen so far. I was very excited when mom and dad told me I would have my own bathroom. Privacy, at last.

Dad guided me to my new bedroom and I was excited and nervous. He opened the door and before me I saw a room twice the size the one in Massachusetts.

"Oh my god…" I said.

"It's big huh?" dad said pleased to see me smile.

"Yes. You had it painted blue?"

"It is your favorite color, right?"

"YES!" The duvet was amazing. It was black and grey and it combined perfectly with the blue walls and the blue and grey curtains. The furniture was black as well and it gave the room depth.

"I left you the empty wall beside your bed, because I know you like to make collages with photos, and everything, like you had in our other house."

"Thanks, dad." I said hugging him.

"I promise we'll be happy here, dear, ok?"

"Ok."

"I'll leave you to unpack. In a week you go to school, don't forget."

"I won't."

Dad left and I started to unpack but gave up after 10 minutes to just lay in bed and stare at the ceiling for a while. I ended up dwindling to a deep sleep.

* * *

I stood nervous outside of Oxford's Science and Mathematics Secondary School. I was startled and quite frankly I didn't want to go in there. Teenagers between the ages of 14 to 18 were going from one place to another screaming "It's been so long!" and "I missed you!" every 5 minutes and my anxiety was over the roof. I was nervous, anxious and completely mortified. After 20 minutes of being in the car and 15 more standing outside shaking, mom and dad finally convinced me to go in. The front doors were fully open giving an easy access to the inside considering there were hundreds of people going in and out. School was starting again.

Mom was calling my attention to the details, like the posters on the walls and the lockers, while dad was looking around for someone that could help us. I was supposed to meet with the school's principal and we had no idea where he was or where anything or anyone was to be precise.

Suddenly we heard a lot of commotion coming from behind us. We turned around to face two 16 year old guys arguing very loudly. Apparently they had to "finish what started in the last day of school". Coming from the left side of the corridor came a 5' 7" feet tall, 30-something year old man with dark brown hair falling right below his ears, who quickly grabbed the two boys just as they were about to go at each other's throats.

"What are you doing?" he shouted angrily at the two students, with a posh accent.

The two boys put their head down and didn't pronounce themselves.

"Get to class." He said coldly.

"But he…" the shortest one of the boys said.

"Both of you. Now!" he interrupted.

The boys nodded and walked off in different directions.

"Every bloody week…" the man complained.

"Excuse me." My dad said.

The man turned to us. "Yes."

"Are you a teacher?"

"Yes." He said like he was expectant of what we were going to say.

"I'm Mr. Fortis, this is my wife and this is our daughter. She will be attending this school starting today. We're supposed to meet the principal?"

"You found him." He said smiling and I couldn't help to notice his bright baby blue eyes. "Are you Alexis?" He put his hand out to me.

"Um…uh…yes." I said taking his hand.

"I'm Professor Charles Xavier. Welcome to Oxford."


	3. Chapter 3

Thankyou so much for the reviews and the follows!

This one took a while to make because I wanted to get it just right and I think I did.

Please review and throw ideas. I'd really appreciate your opinion.

xx

Cat

**Chapter 3 – Acquainted**

Professor Xavier looked too young to be head of a school.

We were walking towards his office and he kept talking nonstop, assuring my parents that the school's program was adequate, the facilities were safe and secure and that I would easily fit in. I strongly doubted it.

We got to the door of his office and he opened it, asking us to sit down. There was a scent in the room and I knew it was his cologne as I had noticed a hint of it when we were walking through the school hallway, even though it was a lot more subtle than it was inside the room. I looked at the picture on top of his desk of him and a woman that appeared to be younger. "His wife? Girlfriend, maybe." I thought to myself.

I started to feel the nervousness build up inside of me again and I blocked out every word that came out of their mouths. Until finally, 20 minutes later, and after my parents were well acquainted with the professor, he handed me the school manuals.

We left the office and mom helped me put the books in my bag. She looked at me with a certain concern in her eyes. "Will you be ok?" she asked.

"Of course." I replied instantly as if the answer to her question was obvious.

"Hmm…" she mumbled.

"We'll see you later, then." dad delivered putting his hands on my shoulders, which I took as a sign of encouragement, and placing a kiss on my forehead.

Mom kissed me on the cheek and they both walked off.

I checked my phone for messages or missed calls from Matty. I figured he was sleeping since it was only 4 am in Boston, where I used to live, and 3 am in Chicago, where Matty lives. I missed him and I was an ocean apart from him.

I raised my head from my phone. I had completely forgotten where I was and he was just standing there, looking at me with those bright blue eyes, without saying a word. He didn't need to, his eyes said it al.

"I'm fine." I said putting away my phone.

"Are you sure?"

"Yes." I said with certainty in my voice.

"You can skip today and just start school tomorrow, if you prefer." He replied and took a few steps towards me.

"No, thank you. I told my parents I'd be attending, sir."

"I know it may be hard now."

I stayed still. He continued.

"But you're not alone. Everyone is very welcoming here, I make sure of it."

I looked at my feet and smiled. His words soothed me, for some reason. His voice was smooth and low and his accent gave his words a tone of certainty that I needed to hear.

"I will show you to your classroom, then. This way." He said pointing the way with his hand. "You have History first, yes?"

"Yes."

"That's Professor Logan." He smiled.

"How is that funny?" I asked curious.

"Just…" he chuckled "You're gonna like him." He opened the door that led to a long corridor. "After you."

"Thank you."

* * *

Professor Xavier knocked on the door. I was not looking forward to having to introduce myself. We heard the rustle coming from inside the classroom cease at the sound of a man's voice.

"You idiots, shut up!" the man said.

Charles Xavier was leaning against the wall. "Calm down."

"What?"

"You're shaking." He informed tilting his head to the side.

The door opened and a funny looking man appeared. He was tall and strong looking. His hair was weird shaped which made me laugh and he had sideburns all the way down his jaw line.

"Hey, Charles." He said. The entirety of the classroom went silent at the presence of the principal.

"Can you come outside for a second?" The Professor asked.

"Sure. Class, read the pages 120 to 123 and do the exercises on the end of page 123!"

Professor Logan stepped outside and since he hadn't noticed my presence before, he looked surprised to see me.

"Oh! Hello." He stated.

"Hi…"

"Logan, this is Alexis Fortis, the new student I told you about."

"I thought she was only coming tomorrow."

"I'm here today." I said suddenly.

"Welcome then." He opened the door "Please, come in."

"Have a good day!" Mr. Xavier said as I walked in.

I was standing in front of the whole class. They were staring. I was not enjoying it.

"Ok , listen up kids!" Professor Logan began "This is Alexis Fortis, she will be attending the school as off today."

Everyone smiled and I felt welcomed.

"Would you like to add anything?" he asked.

"Not particularly."

"Good. You can sit next to Lauren." He said and pointed to the red haired girl sitting at the back of the middle row.

"Hello!" she said flashing an honest smile as I sat down.

"Hey."

"Where are you from?"

"Massachusetts...Boston…"

"Cool! We're on page 120."

"Thank you."

"Will you shut up?" Professor Logan shot at us.

"Sorry." We said at the same time.

* * *

The cafeteria was noisy and every sit appeared to be taken. I had only exchanged words with Lauren a few times so I didn't feel comfortable enough to go to her and ask for a sit. I took my tray, walked out of the cafeteria and started looking for a chair outside or somewhere I could sit. I had refused to succumb to the cliché of eating in the bathroom as seen in way too many teen movies.

I ended up finding the bleachers to be a good hiding place and I had the fresh air and the sun on my side. The food was really good, surprising me in a positive way as it isn't the usual idea of lunch served in a school. I still had the dessert left: a red apple and 2 chocolate chip cookies that I had decided to leave for later. Finishing my orange juice and putting the tray to the side, I started admiring the soccer field. The grass was perfectly green and taken care of, the lines were white and clear and the goal net appeared to have been replaced recently.

My thoughts were interrupted by footsteps coming from the stairs.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

"The cafeteria was full."

"That's a lie."

"Hum…no. It isn't."

He had a smug look on his face and I felt a sudden urge to punch him…sort of.

Charles Xavier walked towards me and sat next to my tray leaving it between us.

"Did you even ask for a sit?"

"No." I exhaled.

"Why?"

"Because I'm the new girl."

"Ok…so tell me this: if you were an old student and a new kid came in today and asked _you_ for a sit what would you have said?"

I looked him straight in the eyes.

"What would you have said?" He repeated.

"Is this a trick question?"

"Yes." He nodded.

"I would have said no." I tested him.

"That's…rude."

I laughed.

"What would_ you_ have said, Professor?"

"As the nice girl I am I would have said yes."

"You're a man…"

"You don't know that!" He jokingly said.

"Wow."

"What is _that _supposed to mean?"

"Were you a spoiled kid?"

"Oh, Lexie…you have no idea." He said taking one of my cookies and eating it. "You know, these are very fattening."

"Your point being?"

He was going to start talking when the bell rang.

"Oh would you look at the time!" He screeched.

"Nice save."

"I was kidding." He picked up the tray.

As I reached my arms to take it he pulled it back.

"I'll take care of it. You should get to class."

"Oh."

"Seriously, Alexis, Professor Munroe doesn't like it when students are late."

"Oh, shit!" I let the words slip out of my mouth without noticing it and picked up my bag.

His jaw dropped in disbelief and a little bit of amusement.

"Did you just curse in front of your principal?"

"This isn't happening…" I mumbled.

He couldn't stop laughing.

"I'm glad your student's inappropriate use of vocabulary amuses you."

"I'm not laughing at the cursing; it's your reaction that's funny."

"Even better…" I thought to myself..

"You're late for class."

"Right yes, bye and thanks."

I started walking away but then came back to recover my cookie.

"By the way, Professor Xavier." I said picking up the cookie "I would have said yes."

"I know."

And I ran down the bleacher's steps as fast as I could hoping the teacher wouldn't be mad at my tardiness.

* * *

I saw dad's car parked on our driveway and was surprised to see him in our new house so early. It was 6pm and school had ended half an hour ago. I was lucky to have a bus that stopped at the school gates and had another stop 5 minutes away from my house.

I entered my house and it still didn't feel like home but I shrugged it off as I had only been living there for a week.

"Mom? Dad?" I called out to no answer. I noticed a post-it on the kitchen table **"We're in the backyard! Come meet us when you read this!"**

I did as it said.

"Honey you're home!" Mom hugged me and handed me a glass of orange juice.

"Why is dad on the grill?"

"Well we figured your first day of school deserved a special dinner so we're having a small barbeque!"

I smiled. My parents could be so cheeky at times but they loved me and they showed it in every way possible.

"That is so sweet guys but I can't stay outside for long after dinner, because I have homework do tomorrow."

"Homework on the first day?" Dad said approaching me and kissing me on top of my head.

"Yes and it is history and I think my teacher is crazy too, by the way."

Mr. and Mrs. Fortis laughed.

"Also…" I continued. "You have to sign this notice for my tardiness in Chemistry class…" I cautiously informed.

"What?" They said in disbelief.

"Don't blame me, blame the principal."

"What the cute one?" mom teased.

"Abby!" dad called out.

"What? I'm married not blind. Besides he's like 30."

Dad rolled his eyes "How did he make you late?" he interrogated.

"We had a…philosophical discussion…"

"Fine, but try not to be late again."

"Don't worry mom, I won't."

"Yeah, next time tell him to beat it!"

"I can't tell him to beat it, dad, he's my _principal_."

"Beat. It."

Mom handed me the signed sheet and did the face we always make to each other every time dad is being silly.

"Ok. I'm going to shower. I'll see you guys in a bit."

I walked to my room, put my back pack down and got everything I needed to do homework on top of my desk for when I got back from dinner.

I picked out a cute dress and a jacket for dinner, took off my clothes and got in the shower.

"The _cute _one?" I said to myself remembering mom's words "You mean conceited ball of arrogance that's more suitable."


	4. Chapter 4

Reviews are very much appreciated. In fact, they're encouraged.

**Chapter 4 – Blue eyes and red lips**

"This is gonna be so boring just wait…" Lauren told me as we sat.

"Oh come on!" Jamie intervened "It's not that bad. It's physics."

"It's horrible." She continued.

"Then why are you taking it?" he said.

"It sounded interesting…"

"You're an idiot!"

Lauren and Jamie made me laugh with their little fights. Knowing that they grew up together just made it all better with trying to imagine little versions of them fighting over a toy or the last piece of cake or maybe, if we travel a little more back in time, sharing a womb.

"So, Alexis!" Jamie called "Why are _you_ taking physics?"

"Well…my parents told me to choose varied subjects so that I could keep my options open in the future. You know…for college."

"You don't look like the type of girl who needs a lot of options."

"What do you mean by that?" I asked genuinely curious.

"I just think you already know what you want to do. I think you've known it for a long time now."

I smiled and he smiled back because he knew he was right. His hazel eyes sparkled with confidence and he ran his hand over his blondish hair, tilting his head to the side which made me think of Professor Charles.

"OH MY GOD! DON'T!" Lauren screeched.

"What?" he said confused.

"Are you ok?" I asked concerned.

"I will kill you Jamie Harrison!"

"What did he do?" I said.

"He was getting ready to woo you."

I felt my face turn red.

"Um…no…no, he was not…"

Jamie started laughing and looked at Lauren shaking his head.

"I was not wooing her."

"You tilted your head and touched your hair. I know you!"

"Maybe I was, so what?"

"No you wer…TAKE THAT BACK!" I called out.

"No, because clearly you need some self-confidence."

"I'll have you know I am very confident."

"Yes, Miss Red Tomato, I can see your confidence spread all over your face."

I twitched my nose and chuckled. "You're a dick!"

"I know." He nodded. "By the way dearest sister…" he turned to Lauren "What would be the problem if I went out with her?"

"Yeah…what _would_ be the problem?" I teased.

"You always date my friends, destroy the relationship 2 months later, because you're a knob, and then they can't hang out with me anymore since you're always around me…like a fucking bonus package…a really annoying one too."

"YOU LOVE ME!"

"I was forced to through childbirth and shared DNA."

The teacher walked in the classroom so we all sat straight in our chairs.

"I know you love me…" Jamie whispered one more time as he faced the board.

Lauren smiled and looked at him with pure and honest cherish. They had true affection for each other and it was adorable to watch.

The teacher was tall and had blue eyes. "Not as blue as Charles'..." I thought kicking myself afterwards for it. His face was young and hard and he appeared to be a severe teacher. His lips were closed in an undecorated line with a pale pink attached and his hair was short, shaggy and dark.

"Welcome back." He announced, putting down his manuals on the desk.

Everyone smiled gently and thanked the professor.

"Alright, which one of you is the new kid?"

I raised my head and slowly began to raise my hand. I cleared my throat.

"Me. It's me."

"Alexis Fortis, right?"

"Yes."

"Very well. Welcome. Are you ok where you're sitting?"

"Yes."

"Let's start then. Open your books on page 146." Everyone did as told and he proceeded "Alexis if you have any questions about a past chapter or if you were a bit more behind in your former school, you can see me after class."

I nodded in agreement.

* * *

I was staring at the clock counting down the last few seconds until the end of the class. I looked over to Jamie and he was watching it too.

"27…26…25…24…" he counted to himself.

I closed the manual and started putting the pens back in the case.

"19…18…17…16…" he continued to count and shake his leg.

Lauren looked at me and rolled her eyes.

"Don't forget to do your homework. I'm taking note of the ones who do. It's 20% of your grade people!" Professor Lehnsherr exclaimed.

"10!" Jamie accidentally counted out loud.

"And with that you get 2 extra minutes inside the classroom!" Our teacher said grinning.

"Uggggh!" Everyone began to complain whilst sending death stares at the poor blond boy.

As the bell rang, the speaker on the top left corner of the classroom made a noise as if it was announcing the arrival of a message.

"Alexis Fortis to the principal's office, please." Charles' voice came through.

Erik Lehnsherr stared at the speaker, then turned his eyes to me and signed permission to leave.

"Don't blush." Jamie teased.

I picked up my backpack and gave a confused look to Lauren.

"It's probably nothing." She assured me "We'll wait for you outside."

"Ok."

And I left the classroom.

* * *

I knocked on the door without knowing what to expect. "What if my parents called about the whole "late for chemistry" thing?" I thought to myself terrified and embarrassed. I picked up my phone and had a text from Lauren **"Waiting for you. Hurry up!"**

The door opened suddenly and it startled me making me drop my phone.

"Oh sorry!" He said bending down and picking it up. "There you go."

"Thank you."

"Come on in."

I did and sat down on the chair. He sat in front of me and crossed his arms.

"Do you have your note there?"

"My note?"

"The note for being late yesterday."

"Ohh that, yes."

I opened up my bag and started looking for it.

"Did your parents sign it?"

"Yes?!..." I answered reluctant.

"Ok…what did they say?"

"Oh god! They didn't call you, did they?"

"No. Why would they call me?"

"Nothing." I pushed my hair behind my ear and placed the note on his desk.

"Did you tell them it was my fault?"

"THEY CALLED YOU?"

"So you _did_ tell them it was my fault."

I put both my hands on my face.

"They didn't call me, Alexis."

"Oh my god…" I felt so uncomfortable at that moment.

"I was actually asking because I wanted them to know it was my fault."

"Why would you want that?"

"Because it _was_ my fault."

Neither of us said another word for a while and he stored the note on my file.

"You're not very talkative are you?" he asked.

"Actually, Professor Logan told me to shut up after 1 minute of me being in the room."

"He told me." He smirked.

"Right…right."

"I know things."

"Hmm."

"I do!"

"I believe you."

"I feel important."

"You are."

"I am?" his eyes got really blue all of a sudden.

"You have the power to expel me, the way I see it you're a very important person."

He licked his pouty red lips and I started wondering about it but was immediately interrupted by him talking.

"That makes sense."

"Was that all?"

"Yes, thank you!"

I got up and so did he. I laughed.

"What?" he asked.

"Nothing, sir." I walked to the door and opened it "Have a good day, sir."

"You too." He smiled.

* * *

"Finally!" Jamie screamed as I walked out the door.

"What the hell did he want?" Lauren said.

"Just my tardiness note from chemistry."

"Really? That?" Jamie mocked.

"That's kind of weird." Lauren informed scratching her head.

"Why?"

"Well, we usually give it to the teacher that gave it."

"Oh."

"It's just weird that he called you to his office just for that."

"Hey you know what's weird?" Jamie interrupted "Staying here instead of going for lunch. I'm fucking hungry!"

"You're always hungry!" Lauren hit him in the arm.

"I'm growing. I need to give my body the nutrients it deserves."

"Fine, let's go. Pizza awaits!"

We got on the bus but the thought of him wouldn't leave my mind: his blue eyes and red lips.

* * *

Four days went pass and it was finally weekend. My first week at the new school was over and I was ready to stay in bed and sleep in so when my alarm clock went off earlier that Saturday it didn't hit me immediately.

"Alex! Get up!" my mom screamed from down the stairs.

A confused me emerged from the sheets with eyes barely open and a dry mouth. My bedroom door opened and I hid below my covers again. I heard my mother's footsteps inside the room and I could sense her going over to the window. She pulled the curtains to the side and opened the blinds, lighting up the once dark room. I was surprised by the sunlight in April.

"It's a great weather for Matty to come visit." My mother said.

And suddenly it hit me like a brick to the face. Matty was coming to visit and should be arriving at the airport soon. We were supposed to go pick him up.

"MATTY!" I yelled out getting out of bed and running to the bathroom, to turn on the shower.

"Well that did it." Mom chuckled and left the room.

* * *

"Matty is coming over! Matty is coming over!" I kept repeating as I ran through the house in my pale blue dress he had bought for me last year.

"You seem excited." My dad observed entering the kitchen.

I hugged him and kept chanting "Matty is coming over!" I only shut up when mom and I were finally in the car on our way to the airport.

"I love that dress." My mother said as we parked.

"Me too."

"He does have good taste."

"He knows what I like."

"I'm making roasted chicken for dinner."

"He's gonna love that."

"He _does_ love my roasts."

"Everyone loves your roasts mom. If you weren't a writer you would be a cook."

"Thank you, sweetie." She said putting her arm around my shoulder.

"How's your novel going?"

"It's going slow and steady for now, still getting to know my characters."

"Pretty sure it's gonna be another best seller."

"Aw, you're too kind but I hope you're right."

* * *

15 minutes of waiting and finally I spotted him in the gathering.

"MATTY!" I waved frantically.

He saw me and waved back running towards me. He dropped his suitcase to pick me up in his arms and spin me around. When he put me down he hugged me so tight and I replied with the tightest hug I could possibly give. It had been too long.

"I missed you." He pulled back from the hug and grabbed my face kissing my forehead. "My peanut, you look all grown up."

"Shut up." I said punching him in the arm. "I missed you too."

"Hello Mrs. Fortis. Still as beautiful as ever."

"Thank you, dear." She gave him a gentle hug.

"So, how's the new school?"

"Tell you about it when we get home."

"Are you finally going to introduce me to that Jamie guy?"

"You're not gonna hit on my friend." I warned.

"Why not?"

"He's straight, silly."

"Everyone's a little gay in the heart." He pouted his lip and then laughed.

"Besides…"

"What?"

"I would much rather introduce you to Richard."

He looked at me.

"Nooo…"

"Yessss…"

And we both started laughing hysterically.


	5. Chapter 5

_Hello, dear readers. _

_I am going to be busy for the next 4 days and won't be able to publish for a while so I thought I'd give you chapter 5 today so that you wouldn't have to wait a week._

_This one is a big one and my favourite so far. I hope you enjoy. Reviews are appreciated._

_Chapter 6 will be uploaded around July 22nd._

_xx_

**Chapter 5 – Face to face…lips too close**

Matty and Richard were sitting outside and I felt exceptionally proud of myself. The moment I met Richard, I knew almost immediately that him and Matty would hit it off easily. The confirmation happened with Rick's answer to the question "What's your favourite ice cream?" which was "Peach." the same as Matty and neither I nor he had ever met anyone else that shared that preference.

They seemed happy. I was leaning against the kitchen table and sipping on my coffee as I watched them laugh through the glass door that gave passage to the backyard, when Jamie came over and leaned next to me.

"How come you didn't introduce him to me? If you know what I mean…" he asked.

I faced him to make sure he wasn't mocking me and when his mouth curled into a smile I replied.

"I just don't think you deserve him." I provoked.

"What?! I am…outraged!"

I snorted a little too loud and took another sip.

"Does he even think I'm attractive?"

"Are you looking for an honest answer?"

"Yes." He said, this time with a straight face.

"He does."

"Really?"

"Don't flatter yourself, darling. He's not very picky."

"Oh."

"He actually wanted to get to know you. If you know what I mean…" I mocked.

"I'm actually flattered."

"Good attitude, buddy."

"What did you tell him?"

"That I would rather introduce him to…" and I pointed at Rick.

"Makes sense."

"I'm just…so wise."

"You are though."

"Thanks, man." I tapped his shoulder in approval.

"GUYS!" Lauren called.

"IN THE KITCHEN!" Jamie yelled out.

"What are you doing here? Is he hitting on you?" She almost screamed in my ears.

"No, Lauren. Relax. We were just discussing those two outside."

"Yeah, stop assuming I'm hitting on your friends, please!"

She gave Jamie the death stare she very much loved to do and leaned next to us.

"They look so cute together." She said.

"I know." I replied.

"Yeah…" Jamie sighed.

* * *

When I woke up the next day, Matty was sleeping next to me curled up in a ball. He always slept that way and it never failed to make me smile, even for just a while. I rubbed my eyes and dragged myself to the bathroom to wash my face and brush my hair just enough to make it slightly presentable. As I fulfilled my morning routine I began to recall the night before: dinner with my best friend, my 3 new amazing friends and my parents. It went amazingly well. My parents met Lauren, Jamie and Rick for the first time and they loved them, so they told me when they left. Rick and Matty hit it off instantly, talked most of the night and exchanged numbers by the end of the day. Jamie and I talked about the History assignment and made a small draft with a few notes to make sure we wouldn't forget to mention anything and Lauren baked an apple pie with my mom that we had for desert and it was delicious proving she had what it takes to keep up with Mrs. Abby Fortis in the kitchen.

I walked out of the bathroom and Matty was still asleep so I figured I'd cook him breakfast. Pancakes with sugar and orange juice sounded great so I went downstairs and started to work.

"You're up already?" my mother asked.

"Yep. It's almost 11am so I figured I'd do Matty and I some breakfast."

"Your dad will be in the office all day getting some paper work done for a meeting tomorrow, so I was thinking I could take you and Matty shopping and we could pick a couple pretty dresses for you or maybe a skirt-shirt combination and some shoes..."

"Great. But what's the occasion?" I asked putting pancake dough in the pan.

"I don't know, honey. I just want to pamper you a bit after this first week in the new school."

"Are you sure you don't have to work on your book?"

"Nooo…I'll just leave the house to your dad this afternoon so he can get his work done."

"Alright."

"Just finish up the pancakes, wake up Matty and shower. When you're ready just call, I'll be in the living room."

"Ok."

* * *

Looking for dresses was always a problem for me. I never felt good in anything. I was thin but shy, so things couldn't be too short or too transparent without me having a panic attack before trying them on.

"Why are you always like this?" Matty complained.

"I just don't know…I don't know ok?"

"You have a great body. Stop being so insecure."

He handed me a crème colored dress with a bit of lace on top and a turquoise belt on the waist line.

"It' your size so go put it on and I'll go over to the back to see if I can find something in red."

"Fine…" I sighed entering the changing room.

I put on the dress but couldn't reach the zipper so I went to look for my mom or Matty and accidently bumped into someone.

"Oops…sorry." The man said putting his hands on my naked shoulders.

"Professor Charles?"

"Oh hello." He smiled wide.

He took his hands off of me and looked behind me.

"Need some help there?"

"That's inappropriate." I thought to myself. "Please?" I said instead.

I turned around and he gently placed his fingers on my hair pushing it to the side so it wouldn't get caught on the zipper and then zipped the dress.

"There you go."

"Thank you." I cleared my throat and buckled the belt around my waist.

"Looks good."

I blushed.

"Thank…thank you."

"You say "thank you" a lot."

"Yeah I guess I do."

"Alex!" Matty called appearing from the left corridor.

I looked over to him and signaled, indicating my location.

"Charles!" A woman called coming from the opposite side "There you are." She said once she spotted him.

"Hey, Raven."

It was the woman from the photo on top of his desk.

"Hello?" She said facing me and Matty and then giving a questioning look to the Professor.

"Yes, right! This is Alexis, a student."

She held out her hand to me and I shook it.

"I'm his sister."

"Oh." I shot out surprising myself with how relieved I was.

"Raven is the name." She smiled sweetly and then looking at Matty she asked "Is this your…boyfriend?"

"Is he?" Charles said almost in a jump.

"God no!" Matty screeched "That is _such_ a disturbing thought."

"Why is that? Are you related?" Charles questioned locking his blue eyes with my light green eyes.

"No he's…"

"I'm gay." Matty interrupted.

"Good…good…"

"Why is it good?" Raven said.

"No reason."

The four of us stayed quiet for a while in an awkward silence. Charles and I had our eyes locked on each other, Matty was ridiculously holding a red sparkly dress and Raven was just looking plain confused. My mother chimed in to save the day.

"Professor Xavier! How are you?"

"Fine..." he replied almost in a whisper.

Raven elbowed him.

"I mean hum…hello Mrs. Fortis. You look as lovely as the last time we met."

"Thank you, that is very kind. What are you all doing here?"

"Nothing." I said fighting my best to end that absurd reunion. "Mom I really like this one what do you think?"

"You look lovely, darling but…"

"I'm taking it!" I said refusing to let her finish the sentence.

"But you haven't even tried the red…"

"There's no time."

"But Alexis…"

"Mother, let's go!"

She shrugged looking at the 3 people surrounding us.

"Unzip me!" I ordered Matty.

I entered the changing room and started to take off the dress and put on my jeans and blue t-shirt. "Stop, just stop!" I kept repeating to myself almost like a prayer. I pulled the curtain and looked outside. There was no one there but I could see Matty and my mom waiting for me by the payment counter. I went over to them and, without saying a word, I paid for the dress and left leaving them to follow me to the car.

"Are you gonna tell me what happened there?"

"Can you just drive, mom? Please? Can we go?"

"Ok."

Matty looked as confuse as she was and they both looked worried. I didn't know what was happening, I didn't know what I was feeling but I did know who to blame and I didn't like it at all.

For the rest of the day I barely spoke except when the time came to say goodbye to Matty, who hopped on the plane back to Chicago.

* * *

The image of his blue eyes locked on mine wouldn't leave my brain. I laid in bed that night and tried to sleep but I wasn't surprised to verify my inability to do so.

Why was I feeling so attracted to him? Why did I keep bumping into him everywhere? And who the hell lets their teacher zip their dress? "Oh my god he's my teacher, for Christ's sake!" I screamed at myself. "This is your entire fault Alexis Jane Fortis! Get it together!" I continued.

I rolled around in bed until I was uncomfortably trapped between my sheets. I took the covers off of me and put them back on one thousand times. I checked my phone every two seconds and paced around my room for a good 25 minutes. Nothing. I just couldn't see myself to sleep. I was tired and my head hurt. I was ashamed in myself for my behavior at the mall and most of all I was mad that I let my feelings get in the way of enjoying the little time I had with my best friend. I decided to text him: **"Hey, Matt. I'm really sorry for my behavior today. I don't know what happened. It's been a very tough week for me and I'm under a lot of pressure. I'm not sure what I'm feeling right now but I do know that you're my best friend and I love you, so I felt like I needed to send you this apology to somehow find a way to justify myself. I'm sorry. Talk to you soon. Bye."**

The message was sent. I went downstairs to get some water and I noticed that the office's light was still on which meant that dad was still working but it was almost 3am and he needed to rest. I knocked on the door.

"Come in." dad said in a whisper.

"Hey dad…"

"Hi, sweetie. Why are you still awake?"

"I can't sleep."

"I see. He turned his chair to face me and sat me on his lap."

"What's wrong?" He said brushing my hair with his right hand.

"Dad, have you ever liked someone…that you really shouldn't like?"

"Oh man…is this about a guy?"

"Yes…" I said lowering my head.

"Wow…ok…well, if that person likes you too it can't be wrong right?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that if you like someone a lot…and if that person feels the same way about you and treats you with the respect and love that you deserve, then it can't be wrong. It has to be right."

"I see."

"Whoever he is he is lucky to have a beautiful girl like you chasing him."

"Dad, come on…"

"I'm serious."

"I'm not sure I like him. He's just…"

"Love is tricky. Life is tricky. But it doesn't mean you have to be afraid of it."

I smiled and he "booped" my nose, making me giggle. I kissed him goodnight.

"Thank you, dad. Don't stay up too late."

"I won't. Sleep well, Alexis."

"You too, dad."

I went back to bed and I felt more reassured, even though I didn't believe dad would ever in a million years guess the guy I was talking about to be Charles Xavier.

* * *

"My god!" Jamie said when I walked in the classroom.

"Don't talk to me." I replied with a straight face.

"You look like hell!" Lauren shrieked.

"Thanks, guys. You're always so nice to me."

"Good morning, Mister Sarcasm."

"Not today, Jamie." I let my head fall on the table.

"Jeez…what happened?"

"I stayed up all night." I rubbed my eyes and started to unpack my bag.

"Why?"

"Because I couldn't sleep, Jamie! Would you like a report?"

Lauren and Jamie looked at each other with pure terror spread all over their faces.

Professor Logan entered the classroom looking as lazy as always. He put his manuals on the top of his desk and started talking. Really loudly.

"Alright, dicks! Today we're going to talk about World War II!"

"Can you please, sir?" I called.

"Yes, what?"

"Speak a little lower?"

"I'm sorry am I bothering you?"

"Your voice is." I replied forcing all the students to look at me with a stunned look.

"Excuse me?!"

"I said your voice is too loud. Please lower the tone…sir."

"Listen here you little shit!"

Gasps came from every direction.

"You're here to fucking learn and to listen to me. If any of it bothers you, the door is right there!" he concluded.

"Alex, please don't talk back to him…" Lauren warned me.

"What the hell is going on here?" Professor Charles said walking through the door. "We can hear your voice throughout the whole corridor, Logan!"

"Fuck me…" I complained.

"What did you say?" Charles asked.

"Nothing, sir."

"No, Alexis. What did you say?"

"I'd like to leave, Professor Logan. May I?"

"Yes, get out of here. And next time make sure you sleep before coming to class."

I picked up my backpack and walked towards the door. When I passed by Professor Logan he shook his head 60% in disbelief, 30% in sympathy and 10% in respect.

"Carry on!" Charles said after I left the room and closed the door behind him.

I leaned against the concrete wall and began to laugh uncontrollably.

"What is wrong with you?" Charles called out on my behavior with a not at all amused face. "Go to my office. Now, please."

* * *

The office was colder than I remembered from last Tuesday. I found myself smelling his cologne and remembering all those other days I didn't get to do it.

"Your eyes look terrible."

"Thank you." I replied turning around to face him. "Yours don't."

"Hmm..."

"I'm glad one of us got some sleep."

"Why didn't you, though?"

"Can I sit?"

"No."

"Right…" I looked around but the only thing I could see was his eyes. "Stop doing that."

"What am I doing?" he said tilting once again his head to the side with a grin on his red lips.

"You're staring at me again…"

"You don't like it when I stare?" he took one step towards me…then another one…then another one. All very slowly.

"No…" my voice was hoarse and my breathing was becoming erratic.

"Why?" he took another step.

"You're driving me insane. I yelled at Professor Logan that's not normal…"

"You still haven't answered me." One more step.

"I think I forgot the question." His blue eyes were like a device that kept me from thinking normally and I was getting lost in them and I loved it.

"Why didn't you sleep?" He took two more steps and I was face to face with him.

He was so close…so close I could feel his breathing and hear his heartbeat. It was pacing but so was mine. He was the one to blame. I decided at that point that everything I had been feeling was his fault. The little stares, the laughs, the holding my hand when I almost slipped and fell on the wet floor of the cafeteria and the aftermath of him telling off the worker for "putting a student's wellbeing in danger", the call to his office, the lunch on the first day of school, the zipper of my dress and the way he pushed my hair to the side with one gentle touch of his fingers…everything was his fault.

"Please, stop." I whispered.

He stopped moving completely. His eyes were a darker shade of blue and his hair appeared to be soft. He licked his lips making them redder than they were before. I extended my hand and he moved his head.

"Stop." I asked.

He did. I reached his hair and as soon as my hand touched it he pulled me into his arms and kissed me. Our mouths were intertwined and our lips connected perfectly with each other. I realized I had been waiting for that kiss since I first saw him, since the moment he shook my hand and welcomed me to the school, since the moment he first spoke to me. We were still kissing and it was getting harder to keep up with him. Our tongues touched more and more by the second and I loved every bit of it but I was running out of breath and I didn't want to part away from that kiss, I didn't want it to end. I was grabbing onto his hair for dear life and he had his arms wrapped around my waist. "Please don't let go…please don't let go…" I repeated to myself mentally and he pulled away. We were both breathless. He took one hand off my waist and left the other one to make sure I wouldn't run away. He travelled his free hand towards my lips and traced them with it, drying them out. I leaned my forehead against his and prayed that it wasn't just a dream.


	6. Chapter 6

_Hello, dear readers! I know I said I would only update on the 22nd but I was dying to write this chapter and I had free time today so I figured why wait?._

_I hope you enjoy it. It was a pleasure to write and I hope it will be a pleasure for you to read as well._

_Thankyou for all the reviews and words of encouragement, they mean a lot to me._

_Enjoy._

_XX_

_Cat_

**Chapter 6 – The aftermath**

He wasn't much taller than me, but I still had to stand on my tip toes to kiss him. No words had been spoken yet. I had my eyes closed and my forehead resting against his. We were just standing in the middle of his office with our arms around each other.

"Lex…" he whispered.

"Yes?" I raised my head so that our eyes could meet.

"You need to go."

"Sorry?" I put my hands on his shoulders and pulled away from him.

"You have to leave." He closed his eyes.

I let my arms fall out of his body and picked up my bag. He turned his back on me and walked to the window, looking outside and putting both hands on his hair.

"Well, then…I guess I should just go." I opened the door, stopped and looked at him one more time "You're really not going to say anything?" I almost yelled.

No reply.

"Thank you for a lovely time, Professor." I slammed the door shut.

When I saw myself standing outside his office, I put my back against the wall and covered my mouth with my right hand in an attempt not to cry. All I could hear in my head was my inner voice begging for him to chase me "Please, please, please, please, please…", but he didn't come.

I combed my hair with my hands, sniffed my nose, pulled myself together and walked off to the cafeteria where I sat alone waiting for something or someone to tell me what to do next and how to react to what had just happened.

**Charles' POV **

She was finally in my arms. I wanted to kiss her again so badly but I couldn't and I shouldn't even have thought of it in the first place. "No, no, no, no, no…" I repeated over and over again. "Why is this happening to me? What is wrong with me? This is wrong…this is so wrong…"

"Lex…" I whispered suddenly.

"Yes." She said and her green eyes met mine.

She was so beautiful. She was always beautiful: when she felt awkward and flustered, when she twisted her nose at a cheeky comment I'd made but would still laugh with those perfect lips of hers, when she blushed every time I stared at her making me feel guilty for doing it but not guilty enough to stop because it was all I wanted to do since the moment she walked into my office on that first day, when she pretended to be fine when I knew she really wanted to leave everything behind, when she slipped in the cafeteria and almost gave me a heart attack… She was perfect.

"You need to go." I said. "Please, stay with me." is what I meant.

"Sorry?" She replied looking at me in disbelief.

I was hurting her.

"You have to leave." I shot out and closed my eyes so I couldn't see the pain in hers, because just the thought of it made me want to take it all back and hold her again.

She didn't say anything right away; she just picked up her bag. I turned my back to her because I didn't want to see her leave and stared out my window to try and block out that whole moment. "Please God, make it end." I thought to myself and put my hands on my head.

"Well, then…I guess I should just go." I could hear her open the door. "You're really not going to say anything?" She snapped but I didn't reply, I couldn't take it back now. "Thank you for a lovely time, Professor." And she slammed the door shut making me flinch.

I turned around and faced the door for a couple of seconds before walking up to it and leaning my forehead against it. I wanted to make sure she wasn't crying. "Don't cry, please don't cry, please…" I mouthed but I couldn't hear anything except for a sniff and footsteps from when she was walking away.

Immediately, I felt like the worst person alive. Why did I kiss her? Why didn't I just stay away? I should have stayed away…

"Shit!" I yelled and punched the door once, then twice and then one more time.

* * *

**Alexis' POV**

"Alexis!" Lauren called running in my direction.

"I don't want to talk about it."

"You yelled at Professor Logan…"

"Lauren, please…"

"Did you have to go to Professor X's office?"

"Professor X?"

"Oh…" she chuckled "Yeah, I guess we never told you or you just never realized. We call him Professor X."

"Cute." I said sarcastically "Students having nicknames for the teachers."

"Actually he asks students to call him that. He's a really odd fella…"

"Yeah…"

"We have PE next. Are you coming?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

"I don't know… You're acting really weird today, are you sure you're ok?"

"Sure. Let me just get something to eat and then we'll go."

* * *

PE was and had always been a nightmare. Sweating was definitely not my thing and neither was playing soccer. I was a disaster and I was clumsy enough to trip myself and fall flat on my face every time I tried to run with the ball.

"Come on, people!" Professor Summers screamed trying to motivate us. "The ball is not gonna play itself!"

I was tired, both physically and mentally. I just wanted to go home, lie in bed and forget about all that happened that morning. It was still messy and I was trying to grasp and assimilate the kiss, the aftermath of it, the moment he asked me to leave…

"Did I imagine all of it? Did I misinterpret the signs?" I kept thinking. No. That couldn't be it because he kissed_ me_ and not the other way around. He pulled me in and he wanted me. At least it felt like he did.

* * *

Finally it was time to hit the showers. I still felt conscious with getting naked in front of all those girls when I'd only been there for a week but it was the school's policy to shower. Luckily for me, there were private showers so it wasn't so bad.

While the water fell down my body I found myself thinking about the kiss yet again. I was constantly recalling the way he got slowly closer to me step by step, how fast his heart was beating, how heavy our breaths were, how red his lips looked and how good it felt to have his arms so tightly wrapped around my upper body and how much I didn't want him to let go and how much it hurt me when he did.

I wrapped my arms around myself and let the hot water fall on my head and down my back, like a gentle touch, like _his_ gentle touch. I wanted to feel him again, I wanted to feel his lips on mine so hopelessly much. But he asked me to leave without giving me any sort of explanation, without a simple "I'll see you later." Nothing.

"Alexis, what the hell are you doing? Finish the shower already, Jesus Christ!" Lauren yelled bringing me back to reality.

"Sorry!" I yelled back turning off the tap and wrapping myself in a towel.

* * *

We were in line in the cafeteria and I was chatting up Jamie about our History assignment. We had the approach plan perfectly settled and we were excited to start working on it properly.

"Aww! Alex! Do you know what I just remembered?" Lauren asked.

"What?" I smiled.

"Exactly 1 week ago you had lunch by yourself because you were too shy to talk to us."

"I wasn't _too shy_."

"You literally ran away from the cafeteria and had lunch in the bleachers. And then you were late for class!"

"No more nostalgic memories, please." I thought to myself.

"Why were you late anyway?" Jamie intervened.

"That's right, you never told us."

"I just didn't know where the classroom was." I lied.

"Oh."

I looked the other way and saw that I was next in line to get lunch.

* * *

We arrived to the classroom and Mrs. Ororo Munroe wasn't there. The floor janitor opened the door for us and our classmates and told us to sit and wait. There was actually a chance we would be going home earlier and to me that sounded like heaven.

Charles walked in the room and not once did he look at me. I was shaking and I didn't know how to react so I tried my best to appear relaxed to prevent anyone from asking if everything was ok with me. He fixed his eyes on the back of the room and began to talk.

"So, Mrs. Munroe is sick and won't be able to attend today and possibly this week. Now you guys, have 2 options."

Everyone leaned forward in expectation.

"We can either stay here and I'll lecture you on Genetics and Evolution…"

Everyone began to laugh. I wanted to leave. Charles smiled wide and nodded.

"I thought so too. Or you can go to the study lounge and do some revising for the next 45 minutes." He added.

The whole classroom began to complain, me included.

"The ones who don't want to do neither can just go to the cafeteria and help clean. Your choice."

"I thought we had 2 options, Professor X." Jamie mocked. "You gave us three."

"Yes, Jamie. Thank you very much for the splendid contribution. I can actually count, in case anyone's wondering." The students laughed whilst I stood there rolling my eyes to the back of my head, so far back I actually believed I was going to faint. "I _do_ have a PhD." He concluded.

Richard stood up and putting his hand up he proclaimed "Everyone in favor of going to the study lounge say "I"!" All the scholars got up and picking up their things, they began to orderly leave the classroom, as Charles leaned against the teacher's desk and smiled at his students.

"Are you coming?" Lauren said.

"No."

"But…"

"Don't worry about it." I smiled to assure her I was fine.

Lauren, Jamie and Rick left with the rest of the students, leaving me and Charles in the room.

He looked at me for the first time since he had entered the room. I got up and walked to the door, closed it and leaned against the desk in front of him.

"What are you doing?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"Lex, just go..."

"Don't call me that."

"What?"

"You don't treat your students by nicknames, it's unprofessional."

He looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath.

"Can't you just go?"

"I'm sorry do you have a fetish with kicking me out of rooms?"

He laughed and shook his head.

"No. I don't, Lex."

"Don't call me Lex!" I stood up straight in front of him "You don't get to call me Lex because I'm just a student! Right?"

"Please don't…"

I interrupted him. "And students and teachers can't talk to each other like they're friends, right?"

He was about to open his mouth but I decided that I wasn't going to let him win.

"And we're not friends, are we? We're just a student and her school's principal."

He started to get restive and I could see I was hitting the right nerve.

"Am I right, Professor X?" I said in a mocking tone.

"YOU'RE NOT JUST MY STUDENT!" He snapped.

We were staring at each other again. A whole wave of feelings came rushing in. I wanted to kiss him but I wasn't going to break under pressure, I refused.

**Charles' POV**

I couldn't do it again; I couldn't be close to her like I was that morning. If I was ever that close to her again I didn't think I would be able to ever let her go. She was all I had thought about all day. I went to the field to see her play that morning, I went to the cafeteria to see if she was eating alright and I just couldn't stay away when I heard Ororo wasn't attending, I had to go to the classroom just to see her but now it all felt like a big mistake.

"Why?" she mumbled.

"Lex…"

"Why?" a tear fell down her cheek.

I looked at her and my heart stopped at the sight of her crying. I was hurting her. I had to stop. I couldn't stand seeing her like that. I was the reason behind that drop and I hated it. I put my right hand on her face and caressed it, cleaning the tear with my thumb. Immediately another tear fell on the other side of her face and I reached it with my left thumb. She looked so small and fragile right there with me all over again. She put both her hands on top of mine, skin to skin. I couldn't fight it and I placed my lips on hers. They fit perfectly just like last time. She was still perfect even when she was crying and she still tasted the same. I took my hands off her face and enveloped my arms around her waist as she stood on her tip toes and picked up her arms to enfold them around my neck. We deepened the kiss and I could feel her body give in to mine. She played with my hair like last time and slowly made all the pain go away. For that little moment it was just me and her, no problems, no rules, no fear. Just her. I needed _her_. I could feel all the air from my lungs slowly disappear as the kiss became harder, deeper and wider. I needed to pull away and so did she. So we did. She slowly opened her eyes and I could see one thousand different emotions all put together in a stunning shade of light green.

"What _am_ I Charles?" she whispered.

"Please, stop this."

"I know..." she said "I'll leave."

"I don't want you to go. I didn't want it this morning and I don't want it now."

"What _do_ you want, Charles?"

"You, Lexie…I just want you."


	7. Chapter 7

_Hello, dear readers. I apologise for the delay but for some reason I found this chapter quite difficult to complete. I finally got it done and I hope you enjoy. Please review. :)_

_**Note:**__ Every __**theoretical**__ piece of text or dialogue is __**true**__. I made the research needed and only wrote __**historical and scientific facts**__. Nothing is made up._

**Chapter 7 – Knowledge**

**Alexis' POV**

He wanted me and I wanted him more than anything else, _that _I knew, and I was in his arms again. At that moment, everything seemed like it was going to be fine.

"I want you too." I replied.

"But…"

"What?"

"It's illegal."

"Fuck that, Charles!"

"We can't just ignore it, Alexis!"

"Please, don't do this to me. Not again, Charles, I can't…"

He grabbed my hand, pulled me towards him and I rested my head against his chest. I hugged him as tight as I could, feeling the warmth of his body.

"Please…" I begged.

"Shh…" he kissed the top of my head "It's gonna be ok. We'll figure it out."

"You're a shitty liar."

"Yeah…I know." He kissed my head again.

"I should probably go though."

"You don't have to."

"I kind of do. Everyone else went to the study lounge, I should go too."

"Right…" he scratched his head.

I picked up my bag and walked to the door. I opened it slightly to check if someone was outside when Charles slammed it shut again with his hand, put my back against the door and placed his hands next to my shoulders, standing in front of me.

"What are you doing?" I chuckled.

"You weren't gonna kiss me goodbye…"

"I still ain't."

"What?"

"You heard me. Get out."

He smirked and took a couple steps back. I opened the door and left the room.

"Have a good day, sir." I said turning around to see him.

"Good day, Alexis." He replied tilting his head.

* * *

"Sorry, guys." I announced sitting next to Rick.

"Where have you been?" He asked.

"With Professor Charles." I said casually.

"Doing what?" Jamie said.

My brain started working on an excuse.

"I uh…my mom wants to meet with him."

"Oh what for?"

"Something about my transference. I don't know."

My three friends nodded and lowered their heads back to the books. I was off the hock.

* * *

I raised home and realized it was empty. There was no note in sight and I found it odd that my mother had left the house without notifying me. I dialed her number on my phone and she picked up.

"Mom! Where are you?"

"I went out with Lauren and Jamie's mother."

"What? Since when are you friends?" I said walking up to my room to put down my backpack.

"When she came to pick them up last Saturday, we chatted for a bit while you said goodbye and agreed to have a cup of coffee today."

"I see and you didn't tell me because..."

"Because I am the mother and you're the child. But don't worry; I'm already in our block."

"Wait…are you driving?"

"Yes…"

"Why did you pick up then?!" I scolded hanging up the phone.

I threw the phone onto my bed, took off my clothes and put on my comfy blue Hello Kitty pajamas.

"I'm home!" I heard mom scream from downstairs as she closed the door.

I heard her footsteps on the stairs as she came up. I sat on my desk and opened my physics manual and my notebook to start revising.

"What are you doing?" she asked planting a kiss on my cheek.

"I was gonna revise for class tomorrow."

"There's my good girl."

I smiled.

"How was the coffee with Mrs. Harrison?"

"It was fine. Do you know who ran into us?"

"Who?"

"Your principal."

I took a deep breath.

"Oh." I said "How was he?"

"Charming as always. Asked if you had been doing your homework."

"I think I've been doing much more than that…" I thought to myself. "He's really weird, mom." I replied.

"And cute."

"Married, mother. You are married." I said looking at the ceiling.

"Fine! I'm gonna start making dinner. Your dad is gonna come late so I'll just leave you to your revising."

"Thank you for your consideration, Mrs. Fortis."

Mom smiled and left my room. The amount of times he ran into her on the street was getting out of hand and it was awkward, now more than ever. I put it all aside and buried my face in the books for the next two hours.

* * *

Dinner was good as always and I had eaten way too much. I brushed my teeth, caught my hair in a ponytail and prepared my bag for the next day. I was exhausted. That whole day was a mess: I had finally come to the realization of my feelings towards Charles and the problems attached to them and we had kissed, hurt each other and kissed again. I had no idea where our "relationship" stood at that point but I was ready to find out. I jumped into bed and quickly slipped into a sound sleep, unlike the night before.

I woke up to my phone ringing and checked the clock before answering: 11pm. I had been sleeping for a little over an hour. "Who the hell..." I mumbled barely keeping my eyes open. I cleared my throat and answered the phone "Hello…" I whispered.

"Were you sleeping?"

"What? Who is this?"

"Take a wild guess, Lex."

I smiled and rested my head on the pillow. I heard him chuckle through the phone.

"Did I wake you?"

"Yes…" I whispered.

"Sorry."

"It's ok."

"Why are you speaking so low?"

"My dad is next door sleeping."

"Ohhh…"

"By the way, Mr. Xavier, can you stop running into my mother on the street?"

He laughed loudly.

"It's getting out of hand, Charles!" I mocked.

He laughed again. It was intoxicating.

"Stop laughing, this is serious business!"

"Oh my god…" He sighed.

"She has a crush on you and it's creepy."

"Are you jealous?"

"Of my mother?! Pfft…give me a break."

"I hear jealousy."

"Outrageous."

Things went silent for a bit, but it wasn't awkward. I was just happy to be hearing his voice and I was even happier he called. "Wait…he called?" I thought to myself "How did you get my number?" I questioned.

"From your file."

"Stop reading my file!"

"I can't. I'm your principal. I'm supposed to read it."

"So are you just calling all your students in the middle of the night?"

"Just the girls."

"I will turn you into dog meat."

"So you _are_ jealous."

"Shut up!"

"I won!"

"Shut up!"

"I'm gonna open a champagne bottle…"

"Charles…" I giggled.

"And I'm gonna party…"

"Charles…"

"I just won our first fight this is going on my calendar."

"You mean our second fight…" I said without thinking.

He didn't reply and I realized what I had just said.

"I'm sorry." I said.

"It's fine."

"No, it isn't."

"Lexie, it's alright."

"That was a really dumb thing to say."

"You worry too much."

"You think?"

"Yes, but it's nice."

"Hmm…" I mumbled yawning.

"Are you tired?"

"It was a tiring day."

I could hear his breath coming through the phone taking me back to earlier that day, when I found out his feelings towards me.

"Do you want to go to sleep?" he asked.

"Hmm hm..."

"Sleep tight, Alexis."

"Don't call me that." And I could hear him laugh softly at my reply.

"Sleep tight, Lexie."

"You too."

We hung up the phone and I fell back asleep quickly and smiling.

**Charles' POV**

I got up from my couch and went upstairs to bed. I was more rested now that I knew she was fine, but she still seemed hurt about what had happened that morning. I understood where she was coming from: during the whole day I had been incoherent about my feelings and it made her question about them too. That was never my intention. I never meant to confuse her or hurt her in any way but I was aware that I had. I laid in bed and put my hands under my head and stared at the ceiling for a while. The way she kissed me was out of this world. I didn't know if it was because I waited for it for so long or because I was crazy about her, but the expectation and the wait to be with her in those terms again was overwhelming for me. It still felt like a mistake but I didn't want it to so I just shrugged it off until next time even though in the back of my head I still knew there would come the day where we would have to face the facts. But that day was still far away and for now I just wanted to hold her in my arms and be able to kiss her any time I wanted.

* * *

I woke up the next morning and hit snooze as hard as I could. Sometimes I wanted to break that alarm clock for waking me up at such an ungodly hour. I went downstairs and turned on the shower leaving the job of waking me up to the water that fell down on me. I heard the front door of the house open and turned off the tap.

"Charles!" I heard Raven call.

"Wait in the kitchen!" I yelled back turning the water back on.

20 minutes later I stood in the kitchen fully dressed and ready for coffee.

"Hello, darling." I kissed her in the cheek.

"I made me a toast."

"Speak properly."

"I toasted some bread for I was feeling slightly famished, beloved brother."

I laughed at her mocking and prepared my coffee.

"What do you want?" I asked.

"Dinner with you."

"Oh?"

"Please, Charles. You've been so off lately. I miss you."

I sighed and sipped on my coffee.

"Tonight?"

"Yes!" She answered enthusiastically.

"It's settled, then."

"Thank you." She hugged me making me smile.

"What are you doing today?" I asked.

"Sleep."

"Solid plan."

"I know right?"

"I on the other hand have to go to work." I said going back to the bathroom to brush my teeth.

She stood on the main entrance waiting for me. I put on my jacket and we both left the house.

* * *

**Alexis' POV**

"Ahh yes. Another day in hell." I mumbled as I said goodbye to dad and left the car to go to school.

Dad had to drive me 20 minutes before my first class started, because he had an early meeting to attend at work. I decided to go do some reading in the library. I opened the door and Mrs. Grey was already there putting some new books she had received into the computer database.

"Good morning, Mrs. Grey."

"Good morning. Having an early start?"

"Yes. Do you mind if I take a look in the History section?"

"Not at all. Go ahead."

"Thank you."

A few minutes later I found the book I had been looking for so I sat down and started reading through the index.

"Found what you were looking for?" Mrs. Grey asked.

"Yes." I said pointing to the book "Thank you."

"If you need any help just ask."

I smiled and nodded burying my head back in the book.

* * *

My phone rang with a text as I was walking out of the library: **"Where are you?"**

It was from Lauren. I hit reply: **"My dad had to drive me early so I've been in the library. Meet you in class in 5 minutes."**

I walked down the hallway and passed by the little entrance that led to Charles' office. I smiled recalling how nervous I was 9 days before when he led me through that same hallway and opened the big door that gave access to the classroom filled corridor - "After you" he had said. Only now, I was the one opening it. I remembered how he managed to calm me down that day when he noticed that I was visibly shaking and how he wished me a good day once I entered the classroom.

I opened the classroom door and Professor Lehnsherr looked at me raising his head.

"Good morning, Mr. Lehnsherr."

"Good morning, Alexis. Did your homework?"

"Yes. I would like to discuss something with you at the end of the class. If there's time, of course."

"What is it about?" he asked with a serious face.

"My final grade."

"Of course."

"Thank you." I said walking myself to the desk. "Good morning!" I greeted.

"You seem happy." Rick replied.

"I slept well."

"No…that's not it." Lauren frowned.

"Alright, then. So when you find out what it is, tell me." I replied teasing my friends.

Jamie chuckled and shook his head.

"Electromagnetism!" Professor Lehnsherr announced as the students turned around to face the board. "You!" he pointed at Rachel "What is electromagnetism?"

"It's the phenomenon of interaction between electric currents and magnetic fields."

"Very well. Electromagnetism, or the electromagnetic force, is one of the four fundamental interactions in nature with the other three being the strong interaction, the weak interaction, and gravitation." Professor Lehnsherr said continuing on with his class.

I felt my phone vibrate on my pocket and discretely picked it up. It was a text from Charles. I opened it and read: **Hope class is not being too boring. I know Erik can get a little excited sometimes.**

I smiled and put the phone back on my pocket as I drove my attention back to Mr. Lehnsherr.

* * *

The bell rang and we left the classroom and quickly walked to the study lounge. When we entered the salon we were happy to find it quiet with a small amount of students, quietly going through their manuals and math homework.

"History paper, here we go." Jamie announced.

"What's your theme again?" Rick asked frowning as we sat down on the group table.

"Early societies in southwest Asia and the Indo-European migrations." I replied.

"See? Why do they have the good one?" he asked turning to Lauren.

"Don't look at me. Professor Logan assigned the themes." Lauren answered.

"What thesis are you going for?" Rick interrogated, facing me this time.

"Societies could sustain larger populations and could become increasingly complex, due to the agricultural transition." I replied casually.

I heard footsteps coming from behind me and then…a voice.

"Are you going to mention how the Mesopotamian prosperity and sophisticated culture attracted many migrants and influenced many neighbors?" Professor Charles asked.

I turned around and smiled.

"Yes, including the Hebrews, the Phoenicians and the Indo-Europeans." I replied teasing him.

"Ah…" he replied in surprise "Very well, Alexis." He put his hand on my shoulder in a caress.

"We were also going to discuss some of the characteristics of Mesopotamian societies." Jamie added.

"Very well for you too, Jamie." He tilted his head to my friend who felt visibly proud of his intervention. "What about the both of you?" he turned to Rick and Lauren.

"Early societies in Africa." Rick replied in a whiny tone of voice.

"Oh don't be so disappointed." Charles said, taking his hand from my shoulder and turning to Rick.

He straightened his back and putting his hands together he began talking eloquently about the subject.

"The population of Central Africa has evolved in three broad time zones." He showed 3 of his right hand fingers and continued "During the earliest, which covered a million years, early humans sought food and shelter throughout the savanna regions and probably in the forest as well, though the forest may have been much thinner in the great dry phases of Africa's climatic history." He paused and looking at our interested faces, he smiled and proceeded "In the second phase, Homo sapiens, modern man and woman, appeared in the region and absorbed or eclipsed the thinly scattered original inhabitants over a 100,000-year stretch. The third phase covered less than 10,000 years and brought the development of the societies that have become familiar to modern history."

"So…" Jamie said "Do you just walk around with all that knowledge all day or…"

The Professor laughed loudly.

"Yes, Jamie, yes I do."

We all smiled. He was always so charming and so attractive I just wanted to kiss him right there, but I couldn't.

"Well, keep up the good work." He said turning around to leave.

"How does he even know all of that?" Lauren whispered still shocked.

"Didn't he study Evolution or something?" Rick said.

My 3 friends shrugged and turned their heads back to the books as I watched Charles leave the lounge with his hands on his pockets.


	8. Chapter 8

_This chapter is one of my favourites. Charles' and Alexis' relationship is starting to develop. I hope you enjoy._

_xx_

**Chapter 8 – Bad dreams and a dance**

It was dark outside and I was tucked between my sheets. I had fallen asleep pretty quickly after dinner as I was exhausted from working on the History essay for so many hours. I had barely touched my food which left mom and dad a little worried but I assured them it was nothing special and went to bed right after it.

Suddenly my body began to feel trapped. I was having a nightmare. I could feel the air leave my lungs and my heart started to beat really fast. I was falling into a dark hole and my body was fighting for its way out as my mind struggled to wake me up. My unconscious was swallowing me up.

My phone buzzed on my nightstand and I woke up in a startle. I looked at the clock and it marked 6:30am.

"30 minutes later and it would have been my alarm clock." I mumbled.

I opened the text and seeing it was from Lauren, I decided to ignore it for just a little while and put the phone back on the nightstand.

I was drenched in sweat and my heart was still pounding in my chest. Another bad dream. I wasn't excited to have the cycle start again. I always woke up in that state of fear and the dream was constantly the same with a few differences in the sounds. Sometimes I heard voices, whispers or even loud screams but this time it was very silent and very clear. The dark and cold abyss that had me in therapy for 3 months at a request from my mother was back. Anxiety was the cause according to my therapist and medication was his solution, although after a couple of months of numbness as a side effect my mother decided to take me off of it. I was glad she had. I hadn't had a bad dream since I had moved and I was surprised to see it come back after so long.

I took deep breaths and waited for my heart to go back to its normal rhythm.

"I might as well just get up." I said.

I got out of bed and heard footsteps in the hallway. Dad opened the door to my room and seeing me already awake he frowned.

"Why are you up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep?"

"The nightmares didn't come back, did they?" Mr. Fortis asked with a concerned face.

"Don't worry, dad." I said calmly.

I had been lying to them about the subject for months. I was tired of seeing them worried and rushing me to therapy and I was even more tired of the questions I got every morning for longer than I could bare. So I chose to omit it. For all they knew, I was alright.

"Do you want pancakes?"

"Hmm…yes please!" I smiled wide and saw dad's face soothe.

"Be ready in 20."

"Yes, sir!" I saluted.

* * *

"Oh my god, it smells so good." I said entering the kitchen.

"Then eat." He kissed my forehead.

We ate the pancakes and chatted for a while about dad's work and then about my History essay. When we finished eating I put the dishes in the dishwasher.

"We have a couple of minutes." Dad announced looking at his watch "Do you want to take breakfast upstairs for mom?"

"You spoil her too much." I teased.

"Ah, she deserves it."

He put a plate of pilled pancakes on a tray, filled a mug with coffee, a glass with orange juice and put it next to the pancakes. We went up to their room.

"Mom!" I jumped into bed and woke her up.

"What are you doing?" she started laughing.

I started to kiss her cheek and she hugged me.

"Oh my god! What am I going to do with the two of you?" she said excited by the surprise.

Dad laughed amused and as mum sat down on the bed he put the tray on her lap. I got up and stood next to the bed.

He gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.

"I have to take this girl here to school, darling. I will see you at lunch."

"Alright, I'll just stay here and eat my pancakes." She smiled.

"You're having lunch together?" I asked.

"Well, of course. She's been on the loose for too long."

I laughed out loud and dad pulled my arm and hugged me.

"Come on!"

I waved at mom and blew her a kiss.

"Bye, mom!"

"Bye, darling!" she yelled.

* * *

We were almost at school and I finally read Lauren's text**: "Hey, girl! Just letting you know we won't be having math class this morning, as Mr. McCoy is in a lecture in London. He sent out an e-mail to all of us and I remembered he doesn't have yours yet so I decided it was better to let you know myself. See you in History at 9am. Kiss."**

"Oh you have got to be fucking kidding me!" I complained.

"Wow…language." Dad said.

"Sorry."

"What's wrong?"

"I got a text from Lauren saying there's no math class today as Mr. McCoy is in London."

"So…"

"So that he let people know through e-mail but he doesn't have mine, yet. I'm going to be the only one from my class in school."

"Do you want to go to work with me?"

"God, no…"

He chuckled.

"Maybe you can go to the library or go for a walk around the fields or something. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

"Hmm…" I muttered "Maybe Charles will be there…" I thought. "Of course he will, he's the fucking principal!" I called myself out in my thoughts.

"What are you thinking about?"

"What?"

"You were smiling, just now…"

"Oh…"

"Is it a boy?"

"Sure, dad."

"I will kill him." He stared at me as he stopped the car in front of the school gates.

"Right…goodbye." I kissed him on the cheek.

"See you later and be good!"

"Always." I smiled and walked off.

* * *

I walked through the hallway and read the posters on the walls as I went. Most of them were inspirational quotes for the students and it made me wonder if they were Charles' idea. It sounded just like something he would do.

My phone buzzed for the second time that day. This time it was Charles: **"Did I just see you in the hallway?"**

I hit reply: **"Probably."**

I walked down the corridor towards Charles' office and he appeared at the door. He smiled wide and stepped out, putting his hands in his pockets. He bit his lower lip and signaled with his head for me to go inside. I passed by him and put my hand in his waist, before going in the room. He quickly closed the door shut.

I turned around to face him and he grabbed the back of my head with one quick move and kissed me. He put his free arm on my back and I wrapped both of mine around his waist. He always kissed me like he was afraid it would be the last time. In a way I kind of understood. Our relationship was not at all conventional; in fact it was the opposite of that. Our feelings towards each other weren't rational; to some people they could even be deemed wrong. But when we were together, when we were close like that, it felt like nothing in the world could ever be more right. We parted the kiss and he caressed the back of my head, kissed my forehead and hugged me.

"Hi…" I whispered.

"Hello." He replied.

I could have sworn at that very moment that I was capable of hugging him for hours. I felt safe in his arms, I felt safe with him.

"I thought you would stay home."

I looked up and frowned.

"Hank is not here and he said he e-mailed the students..."

"He doesn't have my e-mail yet."

"I see. And nobody told you?"

"Lauren did, but I only saw it when I got here."

He laughed.

"I'm sorry." He apologized for laughing.

"I'm not."

"Hmm…why is that?"

"Your eyes wrinkle when you laugh."

"Oh, honey, that's because I'm old."

I chuckled.

"64 years of age, I know. It must be so hard." I teased.

"Funny." He tickled me "I'm 30. I'm cool."

"Are you?"

"Of course, I am. Can't you tell?"

"Not really."

He made it look like he was going to tickle me again and I curled up my body in defense.

"No, no, no…" I screeched.

"You're so easy, I love this."

I smiled and he kissed me again, softly and tender. He grabbed my hand and opened the door, peeking first to see if anyone was around. He looked both ways and still grabbing my hand he walked out of his office.

"Come on!"

"What? Where?"

"I want to show you something."

We walked down the corridor and Charles opened a metallic door that led to a wooden staircase going down. He turned on the light on the inside and we began walking down the steps. He held my hand again and I blushed.

"What's your favorite color?" He asked out of nowhere.

"Blue." I smiled.

"Interesting."

"It is?"

"Of course. It says a lot about you."

"Really? Like what?"

"Blue is the color of deliberation and introspection, conservatism and duty. People whose favorite color is blue tend to be patient, persevering, sensitive, soft, soothing, compassionate and…caring." He smiled.

"I feel so good now."

He laughed.

"What's _your_ favorite color?" I asked.

"I don't have one."

We reached the end of the steps and he turned off the light, opening a door similar to the one upstairs. We went through the door and he closed it.

"Watch your step." He warned.

I found myself in a pitch black room, like the abyss I was falling through earlier that morning. I grabbed onto his arm.

"Are you scared?"

"It depends. Is this the part when you murder me with an axe?"

"And ruin my clothes with blood? No way." He chuckled.

I squeezed his hand.

"Lexie…" he laughed.

I felt him pull me towards a wall and heard a click and with it the whole salon lighted up. It was an enormous ball room, if I could call it that.

"Oh my god?!" I was completely stunned by the dimension of the room.

"Not bad, right?"

"Are you kidding me?" I let go of his arm.

He laughed and walked behind me.

"This is where we throw our events."

"Events?"

"You know…dance showcases, drama club presentations, choir, fund raisers, proms…"

"It's so big…"

"That is the usual reaction, yes."

He hugged me from behind and kissed the back of my ear.

"See that, there?" he pointed to the back of the room.

"Are those curtains? IS THAT A STAGE?" I yelled.

"Yes."

"You better tell me I can…"

"You can go."

I ran to the stage and he followed me. I ran up the stairs and stood in front of the curtains. Charles reached an electric panel on the side of the stage, pressed a button and the curtains started to open.

"I feel awkward now…" I said as he sat on the floor in front of the stage.

"I demand to see Shakespeare."

"You do it…"

"Is that a challenge?" he said getting up.

"If you can…"

"Ohhh…you have crossed the line, Miss."

He ran and placing his hands on the verge of the stage, he jumped up on it in a second. I started to run but he grabbed my arm and pulled me towards him, trapping me in his arms.

"Now you can't run."

"I don't want to." I said putting my hands around his waist and kissing his lips over and over again.

"Dance with me." He asked between kisses.

"I don't' know how."

"I'll teach you." He said taking his phone and playing some calm music. "Come on."

"Do I have to?"

"Yes."

I complained and took his extended hand. He grabbed my waist and pulled me up so I could stand on top of his feet. I chuckled.

"What? I'm not going to risk getting stepped on." He mocked.

"Thank you for that."

"Ok, put your left hand on my shoulder."

I did and he took my right hand. I leaned my forehead against his chest and let him guide our movements as I listened to the music coming from his phone.

"Am I heavy?" I asked.

"Oh, yes! I'm about to die here." He mocked.

I looked him in the eyes and he kissed my nose. I blushed.

"Why are you blushing?" He laughed.

"Stop…" I leaned back against his chest.

"That is adorable. Show me again."

"No."

He took his hand and pulled my chin up to give me a little peck on the lips. The bell rang. It was 8:50 and I had to get going to class.

"Let's go."

I came down from his feet and he picked up his phone, handing me my bag.

"Do you see that little door, there?" He pointed at a metallic door on the other side of the salon.

"Yes."

He took a key from his pocket and handed it to me.

"Open it with this key and go through it. It leads to the outside of the school. You just need to go a little up the trail and you'll be at the front entrance. That way it'll look like you just arrived and no one will see us leaving the door upstairs."

"Understood. Do I close it when I leave?"

"Yes."

"Ok." I started to walk away but came back after a couple of steps.

I got on my tip toes and kissed him, putting my hands on his abdomen. He put his right hand behind my head and pulled me towards him, returning the kiss.

"You really have to go now." He said parting the kiss.

We walked off in opposite directions.

* * *

"Hey!" Lauren signaled me from the entrance.

I hid the key on my pocket.

"Good morning!" I said.

"What were you doing there?" she asked.

"I was here a little early so I went to see the school from the outside."

"Did you notice the metal door, down there?"

"Yes, actually. What is it?"

"It's our events salon. I'll have to show you some day, but we'd have to ask Professor X." she informed.

"Oh something tells me he would say yes…"

She smiled confused and we went inside.

* * *

"Good morning!" Charles repeated to the students in the corridor.

"Good morning, Professor Xavier." The students replied back.

"Good morning, Lauren, Alexis." He tilted his head to us. "Where's Jamie?"

"He wasn't feeling well this morning, so he stayed home." She replied.

"I see. Well, have a good class."

"Thank you, sir." She replied.

"Thank you, sir." I said.

He winked at me, without Lauren realizing and brushed his hand against mine, as we walked past him.


	9. Chapter 9

_First of all, I would like to apologize for the delay. I felt a little bit blocked and I'm still not at my 100% and so this is not a very long chapter._

_In spite of that, I hope you enjoy it and I will upload Chapter 10 sooner, I promise._

_Thank you to everyone who followed, favourited and reviewed. It really means a lot to see my work be appreciated._

_Have a good day._

_xx_

**Chapter 9 – A meeting**

"Good morning, Mr. Logan." Lauren and I greeted.

"Hello." He replied without raising his head from the book in his hands.

We sat down and the rest of the class began to arrive. Professor Logan put down his book and passed down the attendance sheet.

"How are the essays going?" He asked.

Everyone smiled and nodded, but nobody said a word.

Professor Logan never gave too much away about himself, he was very reserved but I knew that deep down he was kind. He seemed to get along really well with Charles every time I saw them talk from afar and Charles was probably the only one that could get him to open up.

"Was Professor Logan, always like this?" I asked.

"I think so. He doesn't say much, he's not like Professor Xavier, you know?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, Professor X is more loose and fun and easy going. He's more like a friend. Professor Logan is like that family member you always stay away from because they give you the creeps."

"He doesn't give me the creeps. I think he's nice, deep down."

"Professor X seems to like him so maybe you're right."

I smiled.

"Yeah, I don't think Charles would get along with rude people very well." I replied.

"That's so weird."

"What is?"

"You call him by his first name."

"Oh…"

"And he calls you Lexie…"

"Will you two stop talking?" Professor Logan interrupted.

"Sorry, sir." We whispered lowering our heads.

* * *

Class was almost over: only 10 minutes to go. We heard a knock on the door and saw it open up to show Charles.

"May I?" He said with one hand on the door handle and the other grabbing on to the doorjamb.

Professor Logan smiled and nodded.

"Hello again, to the ones I already spoke to and good morning to the ones I didn't." He announced.

He sounded so posh I had to control myself not to laugh out loud.

"Good morning." Some students replied.

"Friday night there'll be a meeting with your parents or respective tutors, in regards of your finals and prom's final arrangements. I'm choosing to let you all know in person because I know that if I send an email you will just ignore me."

Everyone laughed including him and Mr. Logan.

"So, this Friday, the day after tomorrow, right?" He widened his eyes to all of us and we nodded. "The meeting will take place in the auditorium and start at 7pm. Any questions?"

"No." We replied.

"Very well. Logan." He excused himself out.

"Charles." Professor Logan replied.

Charles left the room and quietly closed the door behind him.

"Well, I guess there's no reason to continue with the class. You may pack. Don't forget your essay's are to be delivered on my desk by Friday and Monday we start with the presentations. We will be using the auditorium."

"Yes, Professor Logan."

We packed and slowly began to exit the classroom orderly and silently as it had not yet rang and there were still classes taking place in the corridor.

* * *

"Want to ring your mom and ask if you can stay for dinner at my house?" Lauren asked as we left the school.

It was a tiring and long day but it was finally time to go home. I had thought about that morning for the majority of the time, how he held me and danced with me on the stage and how he kissed me in his office before that. I was allowing myself to fall deeper and deeper into that relationship or whatever it was that we had, I wasn't thinking of the consequences it could have on his career, if someone were to find out, or even the impact it would have in my life. I was scared. In one hand, it could end by the time summer arrived and although I was certain it would shatter me I would eventually get over it and move on. If that happened, it would be the end of the story and nobody would ever find out. But on the other hand, if our little adventure lasted, there would come a day when we would have to own up to it and I was not in any kind of way ready for that.

"Alex!" Lauren called and shook my arm, breaking my line of thought.

"What?" I asked still distracted.

"Want to ring your mom and ask if you can stay for dinner, tonight?"

"Oh, yes sure."

I took the phone out of my pocket and dialed my mother's phone number.

* * *

"Hello, dears." Mrs. Harrison greeted as we entered the kitchen.

"How's the idiot?" Lauren asked her mother who smiled at her daughter's question.

"He's in his room. Alexis, what are your feelings towards meatloaf?"

"Love it, Mrs. Harrison." I smiled.

"Call me Mary, dear. Please."

"As you wish."

She nodded in approval and I and Lauren went upstairs into Jamie's room. Lauren knocked on the door.

"Are you naked?" She yelled.

"Shut up…" Jamie whined from the inside.

We opened the door and went inside. Lauren sat next to him on the bed and caressed his hair while I sat on his desk chair.

"How's my little brother doing?"

"My head feels as if it's going to roll out of my shoulders."

"Did you eat at all today?" She kept petting his head gently.

"Mom made me chicken soup and I had a lot of tea."

"Do you want me to get you anything?"

"No, sis. I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I just need to sleep. And stop calling me little brother. You're only 3 minutes older than me…"

She smiled sweetly at her brother and kissed his forehead.

"Alex." He called me.

"Yeah…" I replied.

"What about our essay?"

"It's fine, J. I got it covered. Just be ok by Monday, alright."

"I will."

Lauren smiled at me and we exited the room.

"I hate it when he's sick…" She sighed closing the door.

"You really love him don't you?"

"Yeah…he drives me crazy most of the time and he's annoying and conceited and very impertinent but…he's my brother."

* * *

Mr. Harrison drove me home after dinner. The meatloaf was delicious but I was tired and couldn't wait to get to bed. I opened my front door and could hear people talk in the living room. I could distinguish my father's and my mother's voices but the third one, even though it sounded familiar, I couldn't quite grasp to the point of identification.

"Mom! Dad!" I called out "I'm home!"

"We're in the living room, dear!" My mother replied.

I walked to the living room and put down my bag.

"Daniel came for dinner." Mrs. Fortis announced.

I looked to the chair next to my dad and greeted the man I had only seen once before.

"Good evening, Mr. O' Sullivan."

"Good evening. It's Daniel by the way."

I smiled and looked at my mom.

"This Friday, 7pm, parents meeting."

"Oh… About?"

"Prom and finals."

"Finals." My dad said "I hope you've been studying." He smiled.

"Don't worry, dad."

I kissed him on the cheek and my mom on the forehead.

"I'm going to bed. It was a pleasure seeing you Mister…I mean Daniel."

"You too."

"Sleep well." My parents replied.

I picked up my bag and climbed the stairs.


	10. Chapter 10

_Hello, dear readers!_

_My writer's block has ended, at last. _

_This chapter is my pride and joy, at the moment. I truly believe it's my best one so far and I'm hoping you'll agree. Be prepared for a lot of flirting, fluff and a more confident Alexis (she's really starting to grow on me)._

_I hope you like it and don't forget that ideas and constructive criticism are very welcomed, so feel free to leave a review or send me a private message. _

_Thank you to everyone who favourited and followed, it means a lot to me._

_And without any further ado, here's Chapter 10._

_Cat_

_xx_

**Chapter 10 – Some things never go away**

My dad still hadn't come back from work. I climbed down the stairs, already fully dressed and ready to go. I looked around for my mother and found her in the living room trying out shoes.

"What in the hell are you doing, woman?"

"Which ones should I wear?" She asked pointing at 6 pairs of high heels all lined up on the floor.

"I really couldn't care less."

"Look who's talking, Miss "I'm wearing the cutest dress I own".

"Hey, this dress has memories ok?"

"The only memory I have of that dress is you freaking out at the mall."

I looked down at the crème colored dress, adorned with lace and a blue belt on the waist. I could almost feel Charles' hands on my back as he zipped it up.

"Alexis!" My mother called snapping her fingers taking my thoughts away from me.

"Yeah?"

"Are you ok?"

"Of course…" I smiled "The white ones. Your dress is black, mom…the white ones."

"Thank you!" She exhaled putting on the shoes. "Are you sure you're alright?" She said grabbing me by the shoulders and looking into my eyes.

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"You just seem so off, lately. You're always either studying or drifting someplace else."

I smiled and hugged her tight. "I'm perfectly fine, mom. I'm just stressed out because exams are coming up in a month and I have a lot on my plate."

"How about your nightmares?" She pulled away to look at me again.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"You think I don't know?"

"Mom…" I tried to explain.

"I hear you pacing around the house at 4 in the morning, Alexis. I know you've been hiding it from us for months now. You need to start thinking about your health and care a little less about us, ok?"

My eyes began to flood with tears and after a few seconds and a tender smile from my mother, I lost the strength to hold them in.

"I just hate to worry you…" I said breaking down in my mother's arms as she held me tight.

"Sweetie, you shouldn't have to. We're your parents, we'll always care about you and we will always worry even when you think we're overreacting."

I sniffed my nose and closed my eyes as hard as I could to keep any more tears from falling.

"Oh honey, it's ok." She petted my back and kissed the top of my head "It's all going to be ok." She pulled away and took a tissue from her purse, cleaning my tears away.

"I just thought that with the moving it would end…" I confessed "I guess I was wrong."

"Things are never that easy. You've had anxiety since you were 12, something like that doesn't just go away. And we never knew the reason behind your panic attacks or how you developed your illness, and maybe we never will, but we will always be right next to you, alright?"

"Yes." I smiled blowing my nose.

"And you'll never be alone, because I and your dad won't leave you." She kissed my forehead. "Now go wash your face."

"Ok."

* * *

As I went back to the living room I noticed my father had already arrived and changed his shirt. We were ready to go.

"Finally!" I said. "I was starting to think we were going to be late."

"Have you been crying?!" Dad asked clearly concerned.

"I had a little meltdown…"

"She's really stressed with exams." Mrs. Fortis intervened.

"Hmm…" Dad mumbled, grabbing a small strand of my hazel hair and putting it behind my ear. "Are you sure that's all?"

"I promise." I regretfully lied to him, kissing his cheek. "Come on we're going to be late!" I said picking up my jacket.

"Jesus! Why are you so concerned about it?"

"Professor Xavier doesn't like tardiness." I stated casually. "And it just so happens that we're going to a gathering, in a formal setting, which he is, in fact, leading, so we are not really allowed being late."

"You seem to know a lot about what Professor Xavier likes and what he doesn't." My mother said as we entered the car.

"I've had the opportunity to get well acquainted with him that's all. He helped me with my History essay, these past 3 days, as Jamie wasn't in his best health, so I got the chance to talk to him. He's very eloquent."

"Alright, what's up with your vocabulary, lately?" My dad asked looking at me through the review mirror.

"What do you mean?" I questioned absentmindedly.

"It improved a lot, since we moved. It's like you've been going through a dictionary."

"I'm in a school full of English people, dad. What did you expect?"

My parents laughed it off as I prayed to god that my eyes weren't still puffy by the time we arrived at the school.

* * *

"Are there any others kids here? Or were you the only one who desperately wanted to come." Mr. Fortis asked as we arrived to the entrance of the auditorium.

"I wasn't desperate!" I stopped on my tracks, peeking inside to see if Charles was already there.

"You were a little bit."

"Just drop it. Also Lauren is here and Rick too, I don't know about the others because I don't really talk to anyone else."

"I just want to understand why you wouldn't want to stay home. You've always been so lazy…"

"Dad, come on…"

"Leave the girl alone, Tom." Mom said.

"I guess I should be happy you're more active now, instead of sitting in your pajamas eating ice cream and watching rom-coms." He concluded.

"Thank you. And rom-coms are great; they make me both laugh _and _cry."

"The plot is always the same nonetheless." Charles sounded from behind us.

We turned around to face him. He was wearing dark jeans, a pale blue shirt and a dark grey vest on top. His eyes were still as blue and his lips were still as red as I recalled.

"Good evening." He said shaking my parents' hands and mine as well.

"You watch a lot of rom-coms, Professor?" I asked teasing him.

My mother's eyebrow rose at my tone of voice whilst my dad didn't seem to notice at all.

"I have a younger sister, I'm afraid I had no choice."

"Is that your excuse?" I smiled cheekily.

"Yes, it is." He smiled back.

"Hmm... " I hummed. "I don't mean to startle you, sir, but I feel the need to inform you you're now running two minutes late for your meeting." I informed.

"Let's go inside, then." He tilted his head. "After you." He signaled the three of us to enter the room, me being the last. "You're so cruel." He whispered in my ear.

"Careful, Mr. Xavier. We wouldn't want to give anything away…" I whispered back, to which he replied by placing his hand on my lower back only to immediately remove it, leaving a tingly feeling on my spine.

I looked through all the sits trying to spot Rick and Lauren and finally found them on the top row. Their respective parents were sitting a few rows down.

"We saved you a seat!" Lauren mouthed silently pointing to a vacant space next to her.

I went up the steps to meet them, waving my hand at Mr. and Mrs. Harrison and Mr. and Mrs. Jones, who, I noticed, had clearly saved a couple of seats for my parents.

"Be good!" Dad kissed the top of my head as he and my mother went to sit next to the other two couples.

I climbed the last few steps and sat down next to Lauren.

"Hey, guys!" I whispered as the meeting was about to start.

"You look so pretty!" Rick said.

"Thank you! Matty picked it out." I informed.

"How is he?"

"He's alright. He's been studying a lot but he might come to visit in a couple of weeks."

"That's nice."

"You don't need to pretend, Rick, I know you have a crush on him."

Rick smile. "Maybe just a little one?"

I smiled wide, happy at his answer. "How's J?" I asked turning to Lauren.

"He's getting better. Honestly, I was starting to become worried. He was never sick for this long, but I guess stomach flu takes some time."

"I used to get it a lot as a kid." I stated. "It's not fun…"

"He already had dinner with us today and managed not to throw up, which is an improvement. Mom figured he should stay home, nonetheless."

"X-Box?" Rick replied laughing.

"What else would he be doing?" She replied shrinking her shoulders.

We turned forward and Charles had already begun talking. His accent was so strong and his voice was certain. I admired his confidence and the conviction he always managed to pass. My father had told me, after I arrived home on my first day of school, that he sounded conceited and presumptuous, but he didn't know how selfless and caring he actually was. In fact, I don't think many people did at all.

From the corner of my eye I could see the door to the auditorium open. I faced it to see who had arrived. Raven came inside and discretely waved at Charles who had immediately stopped talking at the sound of the door handle turning. He smiled at her and pointed to a chair close to him. She sat down quietly and he picked up exactly where he left off without second thought.

I realized half way through Charles' speech that he was trying not to look at me directly by keeping his eyes fixed on the middle row. I, on the other hand, was allowed to look at him all I wanted without anyone questioning it. For the first time I had the upper hand. I was finally the one staring at him, but unlike me, he didn't seem fazed by it at all.

Out of nowhere, one of the parents on the row bellow mine sneezed bringing all the attention to him, including Charles'.

"Bless you." Me and Charles uttered simultaneously.

His eyes travelled a few centimeters up, stopping at the sight of me. He smiled as discretely as he could and I smiled back, lowering my head.

"Um…Jinx?" Rick said.

Charles shook it off and continued on as if nothing happened, leaving some of the parents confused.

* * *

The meeting had finally ended 45 minutes after its beginning. Some couples rushed home immediately but a few stayed at the front gate of the school chatting. My parents, Lauren's parents and Rick's parents were making plans for a road trip to Wiltshire, 66 miles away from Oxford, a 1 hour and 30 minutes long drive. My mother wanted to see the Stonehenge.

"We could go next weekend? On Sunday?" Mrs. Harrison said.

"I think it would be perfect!" My mother replied excited "You don't have to work do you?" She turned to my dad.

"No, I think I can get the day off." My dad smiled.

"Am I hearing something about a road trip?" Lauren said as we approached our parents.

"Stonehenge." Mr. Harrison informed putting his arm around his daughter's shoulders.

"It's been a while since I went there." Rick commented.

"I think it's worth seeing. Sounds fun." I added, hugging my dad around the waist, his response being, as always, a kiss on the top of my head.

"Mom, Jamie is alone. Shouldn't we get going?" Lauren asked concerned.

"You're right. He's probably starting to wonder what's taking us so long." Mrs. Harrison replied. "Well, good night, then." Mrs. Harrison said smiling.

"Good night." Her husband joined.

Lauren gave me and Rick a hug and we all said our goodbyes.

Ten minutes later, and after a rambling conversation between my father and Mr. Jones, Rick and his parents went home as well.

"Should we go?" I asked. "I'm tired."

"Yes. Let's go." Mr. Tom Fortis said.

"Oh look, Professor Xavier!" My mother said, spotting Charles leaving the school and locking the door.

"Mom, let's go! He's with his sister!" I said nervous that she would call him.

"Mr. Xavier!" She called.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I thought to myself placing a hand on my forehead.

Charles had taken off his vest and shirt and put on a white tight t-shirt and leather jacket. I figured he would be going somewhere afterwards. He looked so good I hated my mother for a second for calling him.

"Good night!" He said approaching "Still here?"

Raven stood next to him perfect as always, her hair long and gold, curled on the tips. She smiled and bowed her head to greet us.

"We were about to leave but saw you leaving too and we thought it would be rude not to say goodbye." Abby Fortis replied.

"_You_ thought it would be rude. _We_ didn't say anything." My dad replied annoyed.

My mother was always an impulsive woman. Always did whatever came to her mind, without thinking twice. Sometimes it was refreshing to see how spontaneous she was but other times it could be quite uncomfortable.

"You didn't want to say goodbye to me, Miss. Fortis?" He asked me.

"Why? Are you leaving the country?" I asked provoking him.

"I'm not going anywhere." He replied blinking his blue eyes at me and giving me a tender smile. He wasn't talking about leaving the country, he was talking about us and he wanted me to know that.

"Let me know, if you change your mind. I'd like to properly say goodbye to you…then."

"It's a promise."

I smiled and looked at my dad. "Can we go, dad? I'm getting cold."

"Of course." My dad said and taking his jacket off, he wrapped it around my shoulders.

"Would you and your sister like to have dinner with us this Sunday? If you're free, of course."

He looked at me in search of an answer and I twitched my nose. The answer was no.

"Um…I think it's better if…"

"We would love to!" His sister intervened, interrupting him.

"We would?" He said surprised.

"You would?" I blurted out instantly after.

"Of course we would!" She took out a card from her pocket and handed it to me. "Call me with the details, dear."

I took the card from her hand. "Thanks but I have your brother's number." I thought to myself. "Um…thank…thank you." I finally replied.

Charles was looking at the sky in exasperation.

"We should go now. We have a reservation." Raven informed pulling on her brother's arm.

"Yes." He nodded a few times "Yes, let's go. Good night."

"Good night." My parents replied.

"I'm sorry…"I mouthed discretely.

He took a deep breath as if he was saying "It's ok."

We turned around and immediately left getting in the car.

"What's the matter with you?" I asked suddenly as I closed the door.

"Is it bad to ask someone for dinner?" She replied.

My dad smiled in disbelief but didn't say anything.

"Mom, it's weird!"

"It's not weird. Tom, do you think it's weird?"

"No comment." He said.

"Mom…just don't."

And we drove off.

* * *

I laid in bed that night and found myself being afraid to fall asleep. My mother knew about the nightmares and that just made it all worse. She was right though, they weren't going to stop anytime soon. Maybe they never would. Some things just come to stay. I was going to have to learn how to live with it. They weren't as bad as they were a couple of months before, but they still left me in a state of numbness for a few minutes after waking up. The meds were the only thing able to stop them, but I wasn't going to exchange my sanity for a full night of sleep. I'd learn to cope, I had to.

My phone buzzed suddenly on my night stand. It was a call from Charles. I picked it up and answered.

"Hi…" He whispered softly.

"Hi…" I smiled.

"Were you sleeping?"

"Not yet."

"You looked pretty, tonight."

I gave him a muffled chuckle. "Do you remember that dress?"

"I remember the day after you bought that dress." He replied.

"I do too. Hey…"

"What?"

"I'm sorry about my mom."

"It's ok. Don't worry. I'm sorry about my sister."

"Yeah, she didn't help very much, did she?"

He laughed. "No, she did not."

"At least we get to have an awkward dinner with my parents."

"Will it be extra awkward if I sit next to you?"

"Yes, Mr. Xavier."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to deal with it."

"You are not sitting next to me."

"Why not?"

"Because I want to be able to look at you."

"Does that mean I'll be sitting in front of you?"

"Hmm hm…" I hummed.

"I can do that." He said and I could tell he was smiling as he said it.

"Good."

"Can I ask a question?"

"Yes."

"Are your parents asleep?"

"Like rocks, why?" I frowned.

"I'm standing in your drive way."

"What? What are you doing?" I got up quickly as silently as I could and looked out the window, pushing the curtain to the side.

"There you are." He said as he spotted me.

"Are you crazy?"

"I drove my sister home and I was two blocks away. I couldn't resist I'm sorry…"

"Do you want me to sneak out?" I smiled.

"You don't have to…"

"Yes, Charles, like you can stop me." I teased hanging up the phone and grabbing a pair of jeans and a warm hoodie.

I went down the stairs quietly and got dressed in the kitchen as I looked for the key to the back door. I opened it and went around the house.

When he saw me he gave a gentle chuckle and I swayed silently until I fell in his arms in a warm embrace.

"You're insane." He said.

I got on my tip toes and kissed him. We hadn't kissed since Thursday afternoon, add that to the fact we could be caught at any moment plus the freezing weather outside and you get two people completely lost in each other's arms.

A few seconds after, Charles broke the kiss and I rested my forehead against his chest. He was so warm. He grabbed both my hands and I noticed they both fit inside his.

"They're so small." He said kissing them. "And they're freezing. You should go back inside, before you catch a cold."

"No…" I whined.

"Yes. I don't want you to be sick." He said kissing my nose and then my lips.

"Aren't you cold?"

"Not really." He kissed my forehead.

I put my arms inside his jacket and wrapped them around his torso.

"Lexie…" He said rubbing my back.

"Hmm…"

"I meant what I said, you know?"

"What?"

"That I'm not going anywhere."

"I know you did."

"But I will…"

I looked at him and frowned.

"If you ask me to…I will." He completed.

"I won't." I said.

He pushed away a stray of hair that had fallen from my ponytail and caressed my face, tracking my lips with his thumb before kissing them for the last time that night.

"I need to go." I whispered.

"Sleep well, Lexie."

"Good night, Charles."

I let go of him and went back inside. As I closed the back door and put the key back in its place, I heard the sound of his car driving away.

I picked up my pajamas, which I had left on the floor, and slowly climbed the stairs. I closed my bedroom door and quickly changed into my pajamas, climbing onto bed. I could still feel his lips on mine and that night, I instantly fell asleep without a fear in the world.


	11. Chapter 11

**Hello, dear readers.**

**By the time you finish this chapter, there's the chance you will hate me. But please I beg you...don't give up on Alexis and Charles yet.**

**Enjoy.**

**xx**

**Chapter 11 – Do it for him**

My alarm clock rang and I immediately hit snooze. I felt relaxed and strangely energized. Rubbing my eyes I laid on my back and gazed at the ceiling as I took a few deep breaths. "Did I really sneak out to see Charles? Or did I dream it?" I thought to myself. I picked up my phone: 9:03am. I decided that I wouldn't be able to fall back asleep so I left the bed and quickly got in the shower.

**Charles' POV**

I heard a knock on the front door and quickly got up from the couch to answer it.

"Really?" Raven uttered unamused when I opened the door.

"What?" I asked.

"It's 9am and you're already up and fully dressed!" she exclaimed.

"So are you…" I replied confused.

"Yes, but I had to literally drag myself out of bed to do it and you just…"

"I always get up at 7, you know that."

"Yes. I know. It's annoying."

I grabbed her arm. "Come inside, it's cold!"

Raven entered the house and put her bag down on the living room table. She sat on the couch in front of it, where I sat minutes before, and faced me with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Alright, what's wrong with you?" I inquired.

"I got up early to come here and ask you something."

"Why didn't you come later?" I asked, sitting down next to her and pouring the two of us some tea I had made for breakfast.

"I have things to do later."

"Oh…"

"I have a life too, Charles." She picked up the tea cup and took a couple of sips.

"I didn't say the contrary. Anyway, what is it that you wanted to ask?"

"There's really no easy way to ask this other than bluntly so…"

I took a sip of my tea, as I waited for her to proceed.

"Are you having an affair with Mrs. Fortis?!" She asked abruptly shutting her eyes and squeezing her hands.

"WHAT?"

"Just answer me…" She begged still not opening her eyes.

"Don't be ridic…open your eyes." I said calmly stroking her face. She opened her eyes and I laughed at how horrified she looked. "I'm not having an affair."

She exhaled in relief and that only made me laugh even more.

"What even drove you to think that?"

"I don't know. It just popped into my head after she asked us to have dinner. You looked all flustered and jumbled about it."

"Why the hell did you say yes, then?!"

"Because I wanted to go to that dinner and confirm my suspicion, but I couldn't wait until then. I had to know."

"Hmm…"

"So I came here."

"I see. You're nonsensical."

"I'm trying to look out for you." She answered honestly.

"That's not your job." I looked at her.

"Oh! So you can take care of me but I can't do the same for you?"

"Exactly. That's exactly what I mean."

"Now who's being nonsensical?"

I smiled. "Not me. Never me."

"Well, I have to go." She got up and I did the same.

She hugged me and I hugged her back, kissing her cheek.

"I'm still waiting for the girl…the little cute one…"

"Alexis." I informed smiling at the thought of the night before.

"Yes, her. I'm waiting for her to send me the address or something."

"I could just check her file." I said casually.

"Oh, Charles…that's creepy."

"It's not creepy." I shook my head in disagreement.

"It's kind of creepy."

"Right, I'm going to ignore that. _You_ have to go."

She kissed my cheek.

"Go!" I laughed.

"Good bye."

She shut the front door and I sat down on the couch still shocked at the assumption made by my sister. I grabbed my phone and thought about texting Alexis, but changed my mind and decided to call her instead.

**Alexis' POV**

I poured the milk into my bowl of Golden Grahams and got up to grab a spoon when my phone buzzed on the kitchen counter.

"Your phone is ringing!" My mother said not taking her eyes off the chicken she was stuffing for lunch. It was roast day.

"I know." I stated picking it up. It was Charles. "Do I answer?" I thought to myself, but not for long because I had absentmindedly pressed the button.

"Hey, J." I said in an attempt to hide the fact it was Charles.

"Ooh…are your parents there?" He replied clearly amused.

"Yes, Jamie. We need a pink marker for our presentation on Monday."

"That was brilliant!" He chuckled. "Pink marker? So it's your mother?"

"Yes, in the auditorium."

"You're good at this."

"I know that, Jamie. You don't need to remind me." I sat down at the table and started to eat my cereals.

"Oh is that Jamie? Ask him if he's feeling better!" My mother uttered loudly next to me.

"Yes, Lexie, ask him." Charles teased.

"You're a twerp." I concluded.

"Don't call him that, he's your friend!" My mother complained.

"I'm going upstairs."

"Don't spill your cereal!" She warned. "AND MAKE YOUR BED!" She ordered.

"You haven't made your bed yet?" Charles said.

"Shut up." I replied climbing the stairs and shaking my head.

"I am both shocked and outraged."

"I hate you." I laughed.

I got in my room, closed the door and sat on the bed eating my breakfast.

"So, I have something to ask you."

"Alright…" I said while I chewed.

"Do you think it's creepy that I read your file?"

I laughed out loud.

"Why are you laughing?"

"You're adorable."

"I'm serious. My sister said you still hadn't texted your address and I told her I could look in your file."

"Why would you do that?" I was still laughing uncontrollably.

"I don't know, but she said it was creepy."

"Of course she said it was creepy. I'm your _student._"

"You're my…" He left the phrase hanging for a while before continuing "I'm not sure what you are but it's not my student."

"Well whatever _I am _she doesn't know, so be cool."

"I _am_ cool."

"Oh yes, I forgot we established that when you took me to see the ball room."

"We did?"

"Yes. I made fun of your age and you said you were cool."

He stayed silent for a while and I started to get worried.

"Hey…are you ok?" I asked almost in a whisper.

"Can I ask you something?" He said; his tone of voice as low as mine.

"Of course." I put down the empty bowl of cereal on my desk. "I'm waiting, Professor."

"Does my age bother you?" He asked as calmly as he could.

I sighed and leaned against my desk, throwing by head back. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Just answer…"

"No." I said smiling "I adore you, it doesn't bother me."

"Are you sure of that?"

"Yes. Why? Does my age bother you?"

"Sometimes…"

"Oh…"

"I don't think it bothers me, I think it worries me, to be honest."

"It worries me too."

"It does?"

"Yeah, I think about it a lot. Almost every time we're together, it crosses my mind that someone is going to find out one day and we're going to be in a lot of trouble." I confessed.

"Your parents would take you far away."

"I think they would disown me."

"Don't be silly."

"You could lose your job."

"Well, this conversation is taking a turn."

"I don't like this, Charles."

"I don't like it either."

"Do you think we should…"

I was interrupted by my mother. "You're still on your phone?"

"Sorry, mom. We were talking about our presentation." I lied.

"Turn it off and come help me in the kitchen, please. You can call back, later."

"Yeah, ok." I replied, my voice showing no emotion whatsoever.

My mother smiled and left the room, closing the door. I sighed.

"Hey, we don't have to think ab…"

"I have to go, Charles. We'll talk about this later. Bye." I said as quickly as I could, turning off my phone.

I threw the phone on the bed and let my head fall on my hands. I was going to end it. If my mother hadn't walked in it would have been over, plain and simple. It had never crossed my mind to end it before, but at that moment, the way our conversation was leading, it felt like maybe it was the right thing to do. Maybe we shouldn't have gotten involved in the first place. This wasn't going to end well for neither of us and we both knew it, we were aware it was a mistake. I didn't care about what would happen to me if my parents found out, I cared about him. His job, his life and possibly his teaching license, it would be all gone. I couldn't do that to him. I couldn't put everything he had at risk just for my sake, even though all I wanted to do was be with him. I had to end it before it got too deep and before we were both too invested. I knew I would fall in love with him eventually if we kept this up. And I also knew that if it depended on him it wouldn't end, but he also said he would leave if I asked. So I was going to. I was going to ask.

* * *

The night came quickly. My parents had gone to bed a couple of hours prior and everything was silent so I figured they had already fallen asleep. I took the jeans and hoodie I had worn the night before and put them on, going downstairs and into the garden. I sat down on the swing my dad had set up on the tree a few days before and called Charles, taking a few deep breaths as I waited for him to pick up.

"Hey…" He said.

"Don't speak, ok?" I replied with a soothing voice.

"Ok…?" He replied confused.

"Because if you speak, I'm going to start thinking about us and I'll change my mind and I can't." I was trying my best to stay calm.

"What do you mean?"

"You told me something last night."

"Right…"

"You said you would leave, if I asked you to."

"Lexie…"

"Let me…just let me finish, Charles, please." I begged, my eyes watering.

"Ok…" He whispered.

"This thing that we have is going to ruin you and…I can't let that happen." He stayed silent. "I can't be with you, knowing that if someone finds out it will ruin your life…" I covered my mouth with my hand trying to suppress the tears "And I need to do this for you and you should do it too and not question it."

"Alexis…" He tried to stop me.

"Please, please, please, don't make this harder for me, please…" At this point the tears were rushing down my face and there was nothing I could do to stop them. The only thing that would make me change my mind now was if he was there with me, holding me, telling me it would be ok and that I didn't have to worry…but he wasn't.

"Why now?" It's the only thing he said.

"Because if I let this run for any longer I'll fall in love with you and I can't let that happen."

"So, that's it?"

"Charles, I am begging you. You said you would do it if I asked. I'm asking." I cleaned the tears as well as I could.

"You're asking me to just let you do this?"

"It's for you. I'm doing this for you. And yes…that's exactly what I'm asking."

"Why are you trying to look out for me?"

"If I don't do it, you won't do it either."

"Lexie…"

"I have to go. I'm sorry but please just let me do this."

"Lex…"

"Goodnight, Professor Xavier." I hung up the phone.

And there was that. I went back to my room numb and crying harder than I thought I would. I put on my pajamas and pulled up the covers to protect myself from the cold. I realized the irony of it all. That the night before, I had fallen asleep smiling because of him, and that now there was nothing that could stop the tears from falling for the same reason: him.


	12. Chapter 12

_Hello, beautiful readers!_

_I'd like to give a shoutout to a few people who have been a huge support since the beginning: **Tom and Abby**, the cutest couple I know, for being the inspiration behind Lexie's parents; **Linda**, my best girl, for being a perfect human being; and my best reviewers **SilentTelepath** and **CS90**._

_This chapter is still a bit painful but bear with me._

_I love you all and thank you for all the support._

_xx_

**Chapter 12 – Tears and lies**

It was not until next morning that it hit me what I had done. I was beginning to regret my decision to break up with him, not because I realized how much he meant to me, but because he was coming over for dinner later that day. I only regretted the "when" and not the decision itself, let alone the "why". I followed the same routine I did each morning: up, shower, breakfast, and make the bed. My mother wasn't home, which left me surprised but reaching the kitchen I found a note from her saying she had gone out shopping for dinner. I recalled I never got around to sending Charles' sister our address and thought that maybe I should do it soon. I just hoped he wouldn't call to cancel, or else my mother would not be able to let it go and would just reschedule.

"Why did it have to be you, Charles…?" I thought to myself taking the note from the fridge and putting it in the trash.

**Charles' POV**

Raven had stayed the night and was now making pancakes. I barely slept. I couldn't stop thinking about Alexis and everything she said. She was doing it for me; she thought she was doing me a favor by staying away. I could have avoided all of this if only I had kept my distance from her from day one. I wasn't too keen on going to her house for dinner either, but I knew that if I didn't her mother would probably set another date and I would end up going.

"Did she really have to do that yesterday?" I sighed, sitting at the kitchen counter.

"Did you say something?" Raven asked curious.

"No, just…thinking out loud."

"You've been doing that a lot."

"Hmm…"

"Are you alright? You look crushed."

"Did uh…did she text you?" I asked swallowing hard.

"Not yet."

And as soon and she finished the sentence her phone rang with a text.

"Oh there you go. Jesus, it's like you guys are in sink." She joked.

"I strongly doubt that." I said going back upstairs.

**Alexis' POV**

"ALEXIS, ARE YOU THERE?" My mother yelled from the front door.

I walked up to her and noticed the monstrous amount of shopping bags she had.

"What are you doing?!" I asked scandalized. "WHAT ARE ALL THESE BAGS?"

"I want everything to be perfect, tonight."

"Something tells me it won't be…" I thought "Alright fine but we're not cooking for the Queen so calm down." I told her.

"Do you think I could cook for the Queen?" She asked jokingly.

"I don't know, mom. Try sending her a signed copy of your next novel, which, by the way, you should be writing instead of cooking for my teacher and his sister."

"Are you going to say you don't have a crush on him?" She teased.

"Right, I'm going to my room. Call me if you need help." I replied unamused.

I got to my room and turned on the computer to print out some notes for the oral presentation the next day. As they were printing I took a look at my phone and was disappointed to verify that Charles hadn't made any attempts to contact me. Maybe that was a good sign; maybe it meant he was going to respect my wishes of ending it. A part of me felt relieved he wasn't going to fight it and that it was over, but the other part wanted him to tell me we could beat all the odds we had laying against us. I wanted him to come hold me and fix everything that was wrong.

The papers finished printing and I took a quick look through all of them before my mother called me downstairs.

"What do you need?" I asked.

"Are you in a bad mood today?" She replied.

"No, why?"

"You don't seem yourself. Where's my little girl hiding, hmm?" She grabbed me by my shoulders.

My eyes started to water. I wanted to tell her but I couldn't. "Mom…" My voice cracked.

"Aw, sweetheart! Was it another nightmare?"

She hugged me as tight as she possibly could and I let myself fall silently in her embrace. She made circular movements on my scalp as the tears kept on falling.

"It's ok…it was just another bad dream."

"I wish it was…I really do." I mourned in silence.

* * *

The night came too quickly much to my dislike and I felt sick just thinking about it. I wasn't going to make too much of an effort on my outfit so I opened the closet and took out a pair of dark skinny jeans, a loose silk teal top and a white cardigan. I pondered on whether I should wear perfume or not and ended up deciding on the yes. I put on my silver necklace with a little silver star on it that Matty had given me on my 16th birthday and drew the line at that. I brushed my hazel hair to the left side and braided it, leaving some strands of it loose around my face. Charles would be there in about 10 minutes and I was nervous and uncomfortable. I looked for my white low converse everywhere in my room but couldn't find them so I figured I'd ask my mom about them.

"Mom!" I called entering the dining room and stopping on my tracks at how beautiful it looked. "She really made an effort didn't she?" I said quietly.

"That she did." Dad said appearing from behind me. "Help me with my tie?" He smiled.

"Oh lord! She's making you wear a tie?"

"Yes, she is indeed."

"You poor man…" I smiled "Bend over."

I finished tying my dad's tie and my mother appeared from the kitchen.

"Is that what you're wearing?" She asked looking at me with a disappointed look.

"Yes, and don't try to tell me to change because I won't."

"What's wrong with you?" Dad asked.

"Nothing, I'm still mad at her for inviting them, that's all."

"You still look beautiful, dear. I'm sure it doesn't matter." She said smiling.

I sighed in exasperation. "Have you seen my white converse?"

"Yes, they're in the entrance. I was going to tell you to take them out of there."

"Thanks."

I got my shoes and went back to my room. As soon as I closed the door I heard the doorbell ring. It was time.

"Here we go, Alexis…" I said looking in the mirror.

I sat on the bed and put on my shoes. I could hear my mom, dad and Raven speak from downstairs but I had not yet heard Charles' voice. I walked out of my room slowly and peeked from the top of the stairs.

"How are you Mr. Xavier? You're very quiet." My mother said.

"I'm alright, thank you, and yourself?" He asked, charming as always.

"Very well, thank you."

"May I please use your bathroom?" He asked.

"Send him to the one downstairs, send him to the one downstairs, send him…" I repeated to myself.

"You can use the one upstairs, second door to the left." She finally replied.

"God...mom, really?" I mumbled running quietly to my room.

"It's Alexis' bathroom so it's probably filled with perfumes and all those other things…" I heard her say one last time before closing the door.

"Jesus Christ, don't let him come in here…" I begged gazing outside my window.

I heard a knock on the door. "Come in." I said automatically as emotionless as I could.

"Hey…" Charles spoke softly.

"Second door to the left..." I replied coldly.

"Lexie…"

"This is the third door to the right. You're in the wrong part of the house." I said turning my face to the side and refusing to face him.

"I just want to talk to you."

"I thought I had made myself clear, yesterday."

"Are you going to let me talk to you, or not?"

I turned around and sat on my bed. He sat on my desk chair facing me.

"Are you going to look at me, at all?"

"No." I replied. "I can't because if I do I will probably cry." I said to myself.

"You'll have to eventually." He stated calmly.

"Get to the point, please. We don't have much time."

"Alright...I know what you meant, last night." He paused "I listened to everything you said, Alexis and, yes, you were very clear. I understand. You're worried, I am too, but you can't just snap your fingers and wait for it to go away."

I crossed my legs and scratched my nose looking at my hands.

"Can you look at me, please?" He asked in a whisper, touching my braid and leaning in closer to me.

I flinched and got up. I couldn't be that close to him ever again. I crossed my arms and stood by the window for a second time that evening.. "You just don't get it do you?" I asked turning around to face him. He looked amazing but his face didn't match. He appeared to be in pain.

"I just want to know why, Lexie."

"Don't…" I raised my arms almost breaking "…call me that." I calmed myself down.

"Then tell me why." He uttered in a steady voice taking a few steps closer to me.

My body was facing the window and he was facing me. I turned my head to look at him but he was taller than me so my eyes were at the level of his neck and I chose to keep them there.

"What we were doing, Charles…it couldn't end well. In no way, would we get away with it. So it needed to stop. Because you have your life and your job and your security and I'm just a kid. I depend on other people so it wouldn't have any repercussions on me. Meanwhile, you depend on no one but yourself and my parents? They would ruin you. I know you don't think this, but my dad would ruin you and…" I looked up to meet his eyes "…it would all be my fault." My voice cracked and a couple of tears fell, which I quickly wiped away before he could.

He put his arm around my shoulders and I leaned my head against his chest, placing one hand on his stomach and the other around his waist.

"Look at me." He asked.

"Why do you want so much for me to look at you?"

"Because… Just do it for me, please?" He replied.

I looked into his eyes. They were so blue. I had never seen anything quite like them and they were my favorite thing about him and the first thing I noticed when I met him.

"There you are." He whispered smiling.

"Here I am." I replied.

He kissed my forehead and I closed my eyes. "Was this it? Were we done?" I thought to myself.

"Alexis!" My mother called and I heard footsteps as she came towards my room.

I quickly grabbed the notes for my presentation that were resting on my desk. She opened the door.

"So, I thought that maybe, I could use it as a reference, but I'm not quite sure if it would be a good idea, and I thought that maybe I could…ask you." I disguised, handing Charles the notes.

He looked stunned at how quickly I was able to go back to normal, stamp a smile on my face and put on the awkward "student asks teacher something" role.

"I…yes, I think it'll be fine." He said scratching his head and smiling.

"I was worried it was a bad idea. Thank you! Oh, hey mom! I didn't even realize they had arrived yet. I stumbled upon Professor Xavier in the hallway."

"Sorry I didn't call you when they arrived. Dinner is ready." She smiled completely unaware. "She's very insecure about her presentations, Professor. Thank you for helping her out."

"I don't mind." He smiled wide.

My mother left the room and putting the papers down on my desk I turned to Charles and gave him an affectionate smile.

"That was…something." He said walking towards me.

"I'm a good improviser."

"I can see that." He lowered his head.

"Are we done with our talk? Are we ok?" I asked.

"We're done for now."

"For now? What do you mean for now?" I inquired surprised.

"I mean I'm not giving up on you. Not yet." He replied with a serious look on his face.

His eyes were shining and I could swear I saw tears threatening to come out. He passed by me and walked out of my room, with his hands in his pockets leaving me alone to follow him.

We reached the end of the stairs. "Hey!" I grabbed his arm "I thought you understood." He faced me.

"I did." He shrunk his shoulders.

"Then why…"

"Look me in the eyes and tell me you don't have feelings for me." Our lips were almost touching.

"What?"

"Do that and I won't bother you again."

I took a deep breath and straightened my back. We were too close. "I don't have feelings for you." I said coldly.

He pulled himself away from me. "See? Was that so hard?" He said with his eyes filled with tears.

"Charles…" I whispered, my voice failing to work.

"Looks like you win." He looked crushed.

"Please, just…"

"I get it. It's fine."

It wasn't fine, it wasn't fine at all. I was blatantly lying and I couldn't explain that to him because if I did he wouldn't let go. He had to let go, we both did.


	13. Chapter 13

_Hello, lovely readers!_

_I'd like to thank everyone who leaves reviews, it really makes me happy that someone is making the effort to let me know how they feel towards a new chapter._

_Also, to all my **silent readers,** I see you on my Traffic Stats, I know you're there and I appreciate you._

_I'd like to dedicate this chapter to **Sara**, my baby girl, for reasons that she knows damn well: I know this story has a special meaning to you._

_Also, **Siriania**, your reviews make me happy and I'm sorry for "breaking your heart", hopefully this chapter serves as a little band aid._

_Anyway, thank you for all the support and I hope you like it._

_Cat_

_xx_

**Chapter 13 – Sorry seems to be the hardest word**

Sitting at the dinner table and pretending nothing was wrong was a challenge. My mother kept asking questions about Charles' career and education as I tried to take my mind someplace else. It was difficult for me not to acknowledge his presence since he was sitting right in front of me.

"How was life where you lived? Is it being easy for you to live here?" Raven asked my mother.

"We honestly thought it would be a lot worse. But with the moving and work we've barely had any time to notice." My mom replied. "Don't you agree, sweetie?" She asked me, not aware that my mind was far away from home. "Alexis." She shook my arm.

"What?" I said still distracted.

"Are you still thinking about that goddamn presentation? It's going to be fine."

"Will you be using any digital material?" Charles asked, each word piercing me like a thorn.

"Yeah…" I whispered suddenly feeling dizzy.

"Do you want me to take a look at it? Will that rest you?"

I nodded and he smiled. My mother caressed my shoulder.

"Where were you born, Professor?" My father asked.

"Dad , come on." I pleaded.

"I'm just curious…"

"New York." Charles smiled, looking at me and waiting for me to ask, because he knew I would.

"Why do you have an accent?" I said almost immediately.

Raven laughed out loud.

"I spent most of my academic years in Oxford rather than New York."

"That's so interesting." My mother said.

I frowned. "What is she even talking about?" I thought to myself. Charles realized my questioning face and chuckled.

"Then…what about your sister?" My dad questioned.

"I was adopted." She smiled and Charles looked at her affectionately. "After Charles' father died, his mom remarried to a friend and Charles was a very lonely kid, so they adopted me. A few years later they died and it's been just the two of us ever since. Charles was a young genius and ended up getting a scholarship to study in Oxford, so we moved here and were placed with a foster family."

"Thank you, Raven, for sharing our sad story." He mocked. "I'm sorry; it ruins the mood doesn't it?"

"I'm just still grasping the concept of you being a lonely boy, let alone an orphan." My mother said placing her hand on her heart.

I rolled my eyes and Charles twitched his nose at me telling me to stop.

"Ahhh, we made it through. We slowly began to meet the people who would later become our friends, so it wasn't all bad." He concluded.

"Alexis has trouble making friends too." My mother uttered nodding.

"Please, don't…" I said.

"It's alright; you don't have to be embarrassed about it. Besides, you're getting better at it. You made 3 friends in a week!" She replied.

"Mom…"

"Tom and I were so worried because all her life, her only friend was Matty and they even dated once, before he was gay of course."

I was drinking water and nearly chocked on it. Raven looked far too amused, Charles was shocked and my mother…well she didn't even realize what she had said.

"Mom!" I scolded.

"What? It's true."

"First of all, he was never not gay. Second of all, he felt pressured and wasn't ready to come out so he decided to get into a straight relationship, so people would get off his back."

"He used you as his beard and you still stayed his friend?" Raven asked.

"Oh please. I've known he was gay since we were 12. But I knew he wasn't ready, and when we were 14 he came out to me and asked me to fake it for him because the guys at school wouldn't leave him alone."

"That's...that's so nice." Charles replied.

"He's my best friend I'd do anything for him. On his 15th birthday he came out to his mom and eventually to my parents and everyone else. I was just helping a friend."

"Still." Charles uttered.

I smiled at him and everyone else was quiet. I cleared my throat.

"Do you have a girlfriend, Mr. Xavier?" My mom asked abruptly.

He raised his eyes to meet mine. "Um…no, ma'am." He answered finally.

"That would be a miracle." His sister sighed.

"What do you mean? He's a handsome young man with a stable job and unbelievably good manners, he could easily get a girlfriend." My mother argued.

I turned to her "Mother, remember our little chat about your inability to control yourself? Those are personal questions. You're not interrogating anyone, here. Calm down, please."

"I'm so sorry, she's right."

"Oh no, but it's fine. His love life or lack thereof, is my favorite topic of discussion." Raven mocked, making Charles roll his eyes. "It's not that he wouldn't be a good catch, which he totally is, it's that he has _big _commitment issues."

He lowered his head and my heart stopped. "The man has commitment issues and still he's trying to be with you and you want to push him away? Well done, Lexie." I reprimanded myself.

"I think we're going to make him uncomfortable…" My dad intervened.

"It's of public knowledge. He can't commit because all his past relationships with women ended horribly wrong…"

"Which is why I have you, Raven." He kissed her cheek trying his best to get away from that topic.

"Should I…go get the dessert…mom?" I chimed in doing all I could to help.

"Yes, please. She made chocolate cake and I made apple pie and raspberry pie." She informed proud.

"I'll help you." Charles said getting up and following me to the kitchen.

We were lucky that the kitchen was far away enough from the dining room so no one could see or hear us. I opened the fridge to take off the chocolate cake and the pies and put them on the kitchen counter.

"Plates, plates, plates…" I mumbled, opening the cabinet only to find out they were in the top shelf which I could not reach for only a few inches.

Charles was leaning against the wall and came to help me once he saw me struggling.

"Thanks." I said, taking the plates from his hand and looking away immediately.

I started to cut the cake and could feel him watching me. I still couldn't shake it off when he stared.

"Stop..." I looked over my shoulder.

"What?"

"You're staring at me, again."

"Oh… Sorry."

"I'm sorry too."

"About what, exactly? My tragic childhood? Or my inability to have a relationship?"

I put the knife down and bent over slightly lowering my head. I closed my fists and pushed them against the kitchen counter. I took a deep breath.

"Do you hate me?" I asked quietly.

"Excuse me?" He said.

"Do you…hate me?" I asked again, turning around to face him.

"Are you serious?"

I nodded.

"How can you even think that?!"

I began to cry. "Oh not again…" I complained putting my hands on my face.

He came closer and grabbed my wrists. "Look at me…" He said pulling my hands down.

I let my arms fall and grabbed onto his shirt. He grabbed my face gently and pulled my chin up, cleaning my tears with his thumbs.

"I feel like I've been crying for 24 hours." I confessed.

"Then smile." He asked.

I gave him a shy smile and he kissed my forehead. "No more crying."

I rested my head on his chest and hugged him as tight as I could. Even after all I had said to him, he still cared for me.

"It was a lie…" I whispered.

"What was a lie?"

"What you asked me to say earlier…"

He broke the hug and looked into my eyes. They looked so alive and blue, like they were made from drops of the cleanest ocean water.

"I didn't mean it." I finished.

He nodded and blinked the tears away, licking his lips. "Thank you…for letting me know."

He turned around and started to walk away. I felt a need for him that I couldn't quite explain. He_ thanked_ me; he thanked me for letting him know that I had feelings for him and he said it like it was a goodbye. I finally had what I wanted, he was finally going to surrender and I lost the courage to carry on with it. I hated myself more than anything else at that moment: for making him go through hell all day, for hurting him, for telling him I didn't have feelings for him, for pretending I didn't care when that whole thing had started because I cared too much. I was afraid to hurt him later on, I was afraid I was going to ruin his life, I was afraid of the future but now that it all seemed to be finally over, the only thing I was afraid of was losing him.

"I guess that's it, then?" He asked.

"I guess it is."

He took two steps in my direction. "Like it never happened?"

"Yes." My chest hurt.

He nodded.

"I'm sorry…" My voice cracked.

"I love you."

My eyes widened and my mouth dropped open. A tear fell down his cheek. He quickly cleaned it and gave me a courteous smile.

"Kiss me…"

"What?" My request hit him hard and unexpected.

"Prove me wrong, please. I need you to prove me wrong…"

Before I could even finish the sentence, our lips touched and all my fears and concerns were gone. It was a power that he had; he was able to make everything better again, even for just a little while. I missed him, it had only been a day but I missed being with him, feeling him, tasting him… I remembered where we were and that meant we needed to stop. We stopped kissing and he brushed his nose against mine.

"Well that did it." I whispered.

We heard a noise in the hallway and quickly parted away. I finished cutting the cake and the pies into slices and we took the three desserts and the plates back to the dining room.

"About time." My mother said smiling.

I smiled back and sat down. Raven was staring at Charles with an inquisitive look on her face.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked his sister.

She turned her head and didn't answer. He frowned at me and I shrunk my shoulders.

* * *

Everyone ate their dessert and, soon after, it was time to say goodbye. Charles and Raven left and I had no idea in what terms I and Charles were at the moment, but I was willing to find out.

"Are you going to bed?" Mom asked.

"Yeah…" I smiled, my thoughts somewhere else.

"Are you ok?"

"I'm great." I smiled wide "Goodnight, mom!" I kissed her cheek and ran upstairs.

**Charles' POV**

We got to the car and I felt a hint of hope. Maybe we weren't done, maybe we could still fix it and everything would be alright again. I needed it to be alright but I wanted her to be happy above all else and I knew I could make her happy, I wanted that.

"Charles." Raven said; her voice like stone and her face hard and cold.

"What's wrong?" I asked facing the road.

"I'm going to ask you something and you're going to be honest with me."

"What's gotten into you?"

"For how long have you been seeing Alexis?" She confronted me.

I faced her and instantly knew from the look in her eyes and her tone of voice: she had found out.

"Raven…"

"Don't you dare trying to deny it, I saw you kissing her in the kitchen."

I stayed quiet. "So that's what that sound was…" I thought.

"Do you know how irresponsible this is?"

"Yes."

"Good, good….because I thought you had lost all of your judgment. And kissing her like that? When her parents are in the next room? What's wrong with the two of you?"

"I don't know…" I pulled over the car and rested my head on the stirring wheel.

"Charles…what if it hadn't been me walking to the kitchen?"

"I don't know…" I said again.

"How long?"

"One week tomorrow, I guess."

"You need to stop it."

"I can't. She tried to end it and I can't."

"She tried to end it?"

"Yes."

"Was that last night?"

"How do you know?"

"It explains your behavior this morning."

"Oh…"

"Then what was that kiss?" She asked, "Was it like…a goodbye?"

"No. It was me proving her wrong."

"What do you mean?"

"She wanted to end it because it could get us in a lot of trouble if anyone found out, especially me. She said she couldn't bare thinking about my life being ruined because of her."

"Good girl."

"Yes…she is." I said smiling.

Raven punched me in the arm "Her judgment is better than yours."

"What do you want me to do?"

"She wants to end it for your own good so maybe…you should take it."

"I love her." I said starting up the car again.

"Charles…"

"Raven." I grabbed her arm and looked into her eyes "I'm in love with her."

"Oh sweetie…" She said, leaning over to hug me.

"I can't let her go…" I cried on her shoulder

"I know, Charles…I know."

"What am I going to do?"

"I don't know, Charles, but you need to do something."

I cleaned my tears and drove home, with the hope I was feeling 5 minutes before slowly washing away from me.


	14. Chapter 14

_Hello, dear readers._

_I don't have much to say about this chapter, honestly. I believe that it will speak for itself. _

_I hope you enjoy and I hope it makes you smile._

_I love you all and thank you for the ongoing support._

_Cat_

_xx_

**Chapter 14 – Careful**

**Alexis' POV**

"I love you". Those words kept echoing in my head. "I love you"…

I hugged my pillow and tried to clear my head. I had to figure out what I was going to do, but everything was blurry and all I could hear was his voice and the look in his eyes when he said those words.

"I love you…" I mouthed and smiled a little against my pillow, allowing myself to drift into a sound sleep.

* * *

I arrived at the school and went straight to the auditorium. Lauren and Rick were all over their notes but I was confident that I and Jamie were well prepared.

"Good morning, guys!" I announced approaching my friends.

"Hey! Are you ready?" Jamie asked.

"Yes. How are you feeling, after being sick for so long?"

"I'm good. It was a good rest. Thank you for sending me the notes, by the way."

"No problem, bro."

"How was dinner with Professor Charles and his sister?" Lauren inquired on the verge of laughter.

"Wait…what!?" Rick shouted.

"Mrs. Fortis had the great idea of asking Professor X and his sister for dinner." Jamie clarified.

"Oh my god! I love your mom!" He exclaimed.

"It was fine. Normal." I stated.

"Good morning, kids!" Professor Logan pronounced. "Let's get started, then. Go on."

We entered the auditorium and began with the presentations.

* * *

The presentation had gone well and I was feeling good about what I and Jamie had done. We had a 15 minute break until our next class and I was feeling uncomfortably hungry.

"Guys, I'm going to the cafeteria. Does anyone want anything?" I asked.

My 3 friends shook their heads and I left.

I tried to find the cafeteria lady but she was nowhere to be seen. "Where am I going to get a snack now?" I whined.

"You!" I heard from behind me.

I turned around only to be face to face with Charles' sister.

"Oh...hello…" I hesitated.

"Come with me." She grabbed my arm and guided me through the hallway.

"Hey! What are you…" I tried to ask, before she opened the door to Charles' office and we both went inside.

He was leaning against his desk with his hands in his pockets and looking rather concerned. His lips were red and pouty as always and his eyes were a darker shade of blue. His face hardened at the sight of his sister and he lowered his head.

I stayed confused for a split second before turning around to gaze at her and then looking back at him.

"She knows doesn't she?" I whispered.

"She does." She replied.

"I'm not talking to you." I took a few steps towards Charles "Did you tell her?" I asked him calmly.

"No." He kicked his feet before looking up with remorse spread all over his face.

"It's ok…" I smiled and slightly pinched his arm.

He nodded and licked his lips. Taking his hands out of his pockets, he straightened his back and went back to his usual confident self, making me smile.

"Ok. What now?" I asked facing Raven.

She took a deep breath. "Now, you're careful."

I looked at Charles confused and he placed a hand on my back and winked at me.

"People, can't find out about this. The only reason I did was because you weren't even slightly cautious."

"And that's it?" I asked.

"Yes." She sighed.

"You're not going to hit us in the head and give a speech on good judgment?"

"I already did that to him and since I think your judgment is better than his I figured I'd spare you."

"That's…way too easy. You're not going to try to kill me are you?"

Charles chuckled at my question.

"Believe me, if I suspected you wanted any harm towards my brother, I would."

"Right…"

"Any questions?" She asked exhaling heavily.

"Actually, yes…have you ever considered getting a snack machine for the cafeteria?" I casually asked turning around to see Charles.

"You…" He chuckled "No, I haven't and I never will. Those are incredibly unhealthy."

"I don't give a shit! I'm hungry."

"Why didn't you just go to the bar?"

"I did and there was no one there, oh and also…your sister kidnapped me."

"Can the two of you, please, shut up?" Raved uttered. "Jesus…"

Charles and I looked at each other and broke into laughter.

"Unbelievable…" She exasperated leaving the room.

Charles kept smiling as she exited and I couldn't stop staring at him. He was so beautiful and I couldn't get enough. He looked into my eyes and caressed my face, traveling his thumb through my lips, as he always did.

"What did she tell you, yesterday?" I asked.

"She yelled a lot…" He whispered.

"Sorry."

He kissed my forehead and I brushed my nose against his giving him a little peck on the lips. He wrapped his arms around me in a tight hug.

"Never do that to me again." He begged against my ear.

"I won't." I ran my fingers through his hair "But if we're going to do this…"

He looked into my eyes.

"Your sister is right; we have to be more careful."

"Starting by closing the door." He said, letting go of my body to close the door.

He leaned against it and I took a few steps in his direction. "I have a request…" I said, walking slowly.

"What is it?"

I stopped within arm's reach of him. "Say it again."

"Say what again?" He frowned.

"You know damn well, Charles."

He approached slowly and it brought me back to the first time we kissed. How tender he was, how he held me in his arms afraid I would run away if he let go, how it felt to have his lips on mine…I wanted that feeling again. He put his right hand on the back of my neck and caressed my cheek with his thumb. Soon after, he travelled his left hand and did the same. Charles kissed me gently on the lips. "I love you." He whispered. He gave me another kiss, this time on my cheek and whispered again "I love you."

I pushed my hands against his chest and, getting on my tip toes, I kissed him, slightly opening up my mouth to let him know what I wanted. He let his hands fall on the side of our bodies, before slowly taking them up my back making me arch it, gluing our bodies closer together.

The bell rang and we broke the kiss. "Dammit…you need to expand break time." I complained.

"Hmm…"

"I have to go." I said with my arms around his body.

"Yes, you do."

"Let me go, then."

"You're the one grabbing me!" He laughed raising his arms and then resting his hands on my shoulders.

"Oh…right." I let go of him, opened the door and peeked. "Goodbye, Professor."

"Goodbye, Miss Fortis."

"You owe me a snack!" I informed before closing the door.

* * *

"Where are we going to have lunch?" Lauren asked as we left the classroom.

"NO PIZZA, JAMIE!" I yelled before he could say anything.

"Curse you…" He narrowed his eyes.

"Can't we just go to a normal café and have a fucking pastel or something?" I asked impatient.

"Language!" Professor Logan uttered from behind us.

"Look who's talking! Shut up, Logan!" Charles reprimanded next to him, making everyone laugh.

"Going for lunch, Professors?" Rick asked.

"Yes. And you too, I believe." Charles replied.

"We just don't know where to go and we're sick of eating pizza." Lauren said.

Charles chuckled. "That's…"

"Incredibly unhealthy, we know." I finished his sentence. "What?" I spoke realizing my friends were staring at me.

"Why don't you kids eat in the canteen?" Professor Logan said.

"Meh, we just wanted to go out, to be honest." Jamie answered.

"Idiots…" Professor Logan muttered.

"Stop." Charles elbowed him.

"Still hungry, people!" I informed pointing at myself.

"Alright, that's it. Everyone to the car." Charles said suddenly.

"What?!" Lauren asked.

"I'm buying you lunch."

We all looked at each other surprised.

"All of them?" Professor Logan said.

"Yes." Charles replied casually. "Let's go."

We walked out of the school, followed by our teacher and our principal.

"You're crazy, Charles." I heard Professor Logan say.

"Ahh, it's fine. We're going to have to take two cars, though. Logan, you take three of them and I'll take one."

"We're being auctioned, is it?" I teased.

"Don't the four of us fit in one of the cars?" Lauren questioned.

"Yes." Charles nodded "But, I don't want to go alone."

I smiled and lowered my head.

"Fine." Professor Logan, gave in "You can keep the new kid." He pointed at me.

"Excuse me? I have a name."

"Just leave it. He's trying to tease you. Come on." Charles said excited, opening the door for me.

"Thank you, sir."

"Welcome, Miss." He smiled cheekily.

"Does Professor Logan know?" I asked as soon as Charles got in the car.

"God, I hope not…" He frowned concerned to which I laughed. "Why do you ask, though?"

"It's just weird that he chose me to go with you out of the four of us."

Charles let out a laugh.

"What? Charles, what?" I insisted.

"You talk a lot." He confessed, smiling at my shocked face.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Logan is not keen on conversation and usually, students feel intimidated by him so they don't try to speak to him unless it's absolutely necessary."

"And I do?"

"Yes."

"I barely speak to him."

"You barely speak to him in comparison to how much you speak to me, for example. But for him that's…a lot." He stopped when he realized I was still shocked but quickly picked up his line of thought "Look, dear, don't be offended by it. He looks all tough but he's just a really reserved person and usually quiet."

"Yeah, unless you piss him off."

"Yes…yes unless you piss him off, that's correct." I laughed and he started the car. "Alright, we can talk all we want, just keep your hands to yourself."

"Oh my god!"

"I'm serious, they're riding behind us. If you touch me, they'll see."

"Why would I touch you?"

"You have this thing…where you touch my hair a lot."

"I do not."

"You do."

"I don't."

"Yes, you do."

"I'm going to attack you with questions, then."

"That's fine." He looked at me and smiled affectionately.

"Can I open the window?"

"Of course."

So I did and put an arm out. "Question number 1."

"I'm ready."

"Where are we going?"

"Not telling you. Question number 2?"

"Oh come on!"

"Question number 2, Lexie."

"When's your birthday?"

"September 18th and, speaking of birthday, yours is coming up."

"I know… it's ten days away."

"Are you having a party?"

"I don't think so. I don't like parties. Anyway, back into topic."

"Question number 3?"

"Yes. What's your middle name?"

"You'll never know."

"Do you know mine?"

"Yes, Jane."

"That's just not fair."

"I hate my middle name; we don't speak of my middle name."

"Please…"

"No."

"Am I going to have to ask your sister?"

"Oh, don't you dare!"

"You're in trouble, Charles "something" Xavier."

We laughed and kept joking around, throwing questions and teasing each other, as we always did, until Charles finally parked the car, Professor Logan parking right next to us. I opened the car door and continued with the conversation.

"Just tell me."

"Hmm…no." Charles mocked as he locked the car.

"What's your favorite color?" I asked for what felt like the 100th time.

"I've told you, you can learn a lot about a person from their favorite color and I can't give you the advantage."

"I told you mine."

"Rookie mistake."

I stuck my tongue out to him and we walked over to Professor Logan and my three friends.

"You get along so well, how?" Lauren asked smiling in disbelief.

"We bonded over my mother's rambling, last night."

"I think anyone could bond over your mother's rambling…" Jamie added.

"Are we going to fucking eat, or not?" Professor Logan asked annoyed.

"Yes." Charles nodded.

* * *

We arrived at the school after eating what I had come to the conclusion to be too much food.

"I'm going to explode." I complained, leaving the car.

"You said you wanted a snack." Charles said.

"That was _so_ not a snack."

"At least you're not hungry anymore."

"Not all is bad." I said walking up the stairs. "If I keep eating like this, I'm going to get so fat." I muttered stopping on my tracks.

"We're going to be late for class." Lauren said.

"Don't worry. I'll talk to Miss Munroe." Charles said.

Professor Logan had said goodbye and gotten to class, whilst we stayed behind.

"I'd still like you if you were fat." Charles whispered in my ear, while my friends were distracted.

"Because that makes me feel so much better…" I whined.

"Alright, kids. Thank you for the company." Charles said smiling and we all nodded "Now, get to class."

We left Professor Xavier and rushed to the Chemistry lab. As I sat on my chair, my phone buzzed in my pocket: **"I'll call you, later." **It was a text from Charles. I smiled and put the phone back in my pocket. "Everything is going to be ok." I thought to myself "We're going to be ok."


	15. Chapter 15

_What is this? Two chapters in two days? What can I say? I'm feeling generous._

_I hope this chapter makes you smile, even though it doesn't start off perfectly. It was a lot of fun to write and I hope it's fun to read also._

_**CS90** this one is all for you, my dear._

_Cat_

_xx_

**Chapter 15 – Kiss me under the light of a thousand stars**

I sat alone in the bus, tired and anxious to get home. I was sleepy and it was raining, which didn't help my condition. My phone rang loudly in my pocket causing everyone to stare at me.

"Sorry…" I muttered shyly, answering the call "Hello?"

"Are you sitting down?" My mother's voice sounded in a tone of pure shock.

"I'm in the bus, I'm going home. What's wrong?!" I asked concerned.

"Mr. Harrison."

"What about Mr. Harrison?"

"He had a really bad car accident."

"What?" I covered my mouth with my hand in shock, tears forming in my eyes at the thought of Lauren and Jamie. "What happened? Where are you? Where are J and Lauren?"

"Calm down, ok? Mary called me and…"

"Mrs. Harrison?" I interrupted.

"Yes. She called me crying and very upset. She's at the hospital waiting for John to get out of surgery. It's not looking good, apparently…"

"Where are Lauren and J?" I insisted.

"I'm with them, at their house. That's why Mary called, to ask if I could look out for them. The surgery can take hours and she doesn't want to leave his side."

"Is there anything I can do?"

"No, honey, I wish there was. I just wanted to let you know, because I have to look out for them and I don't know if I'll be home tonight."

"Are they ok…?" I whispered, blinking the tears away.

"As ok as someone could possibly be in a moment like this. They're cuddling in the living room. Lauren stopped crying finally and J hasn't said a word yet, he's just stroking his sister's hair and she's resting her head on his lap."

"What about dad?"

"I called him. He doesn't know if he'll be able to get off work tonight. Can you cook yourself something?"

"I can heat up some leftovers from yesterday." I replied with no emotion in my voice.

"Let's just hope John gets through this."

"I'm almost home; I'm leaving the bus right now." I said getting up from my sit and preparing myself to open the umbrella.

"Alright, sweet heart. I'll let you go, now."

"Call me when you know something or if J and Lauren need me, please."

"I will, dear. Bye."

"Bye, mom. I love you."

"I love you too."

I hung up the phone and walked home still trying to assimilate what my mother had just told me. I opened the door and the silence and darkness of the house hit me. I sighed and went upstairs to have a warm shower. I put down my bag, took my warm Winnie The Pooh pajamas and went to the bathroom.

I quickly finished my shower, even though I wanted to stay under the hot water for hours. I put on my pajamas and brushed my hair, braiding in to the side afterwards. I went back to my room and wasn't in the mood to study at all. Picking up my phone, I called my father.

"Hello, sweetie." He answered.

"Hey, dad. Are you coming home?"

"I wish I could say yes, Alexis."

"You're never home, now, dad!" I scolded upset.

"I'm sorry, but I have so much paperwork to do…"

"Yeah…right…" I replied with disdain.

"I'll probably only get home by the morning…"

"Whatever…just make sure you eat something."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I promise I'll…"

"Yes, dad, you promise a great deal of things."

"Alexis, I'm trying."

"I know you are. Goodnight, dad." I said hanging up the phone and lying down on the bed, hugging my pillow.

I was slowly beginning to fall asleep when my phone rang.

"Hello…" my voice was hoarse so I cleared my throat.

"Hey, has your mother told you?"

"Yes." I sat up, realizing it was Charles. "How do you know?"

"Mrs. Harrison called me, because of Jamie and Lauren. She wanted to let me know they would most likely be absent."

"Why do these things have to happen to people I love?" My voice cracked.

"Listen to me; you need to hope, ok? You have to believe he's going to be fine."

I sniffed my nose and laid back down.

"Where are your parents?"

"My mom is with Lauren and J for the night and my dad is…well, at work…again."

"Have you eaten yet?"

"I don't think I need to. I'm still not fully recovered from lunch."

"Is your dad staying late?"

"He probably won't even come home at all."

I stayed silent and cuddled my pillow a little tighter.

"Are you ok?" He asked.

"I miss my old life…" I confessed breaking down crying.

"Lexie, don't cry…"

"It's getting annoying, I know."

"It's not that, I just don't like to know you're crying."

"I just don't want to be alone and my mom won't let me go help my friends."

"She probably doesn't want to worry you."

"Well, too late."

"Can you give me 10 minutes?"

"Sure, yeah. Call me when you're free." I smiled between tears.

He hung up the phone and I figured I'd watch a movie. I opened my DVD drawer and, after a little pondering time, I picked up Sweet Home Alabama. I had seen that movie at least 20 times but it always managed to make me smile. I put on my robe and went downstairs. I turned on the TV, inserted the CD in the DVD Player and let the intro to the movie run as I went to the kitchen to make hot chocolate. The "ding" of the microwave sounded. I got my mug, threw five marshmallows in it and dragged myself to the couch where I sat, covering my legs with a blanket. I had only lost a few minutes of the movie which didn't bother me, since I had seen it so many times. I looked at my phone. Charles said ten minutes and they had almost gone by. I yawned and shrugged it off, decided to not bother him with my nonsense. The sound of the rain got louder. "Jesus, it's really pouring tonight." I mumbled. The doorbell rang and with an annoyed grunt I got up and went to open it. I peeked through the peep hole and saw Charles. "Oh my god…" I smiled at the sight of him. I unlocked the door and opened it, jumping in his arms, before he could even say anything.

"That was a little over ten minutes, I'm sorry. I couldn't find my car keys." He said softly against my ear.

"Thank you…" I whispered on his chest.

"Well…you did say you didn't want to be alone."

"Come in, it's cold." I pulled him by his hand and locked the door. "Coat." I demanded and he took it off, handing it to me. I hanged it in the coat cabinet. "Shoes." I pointed to the corner at the door. He smiled and took off his shoes.

"Nice pajamas…" He mocked.

"Don't make fun of me. They're cozy."

He kissed my lips softly. "What were you doing?"

"I was watching a movie and having hot chocolate. I was waiting for you to call." I held his hand and guided him to the living room.

"Please tell me it's not a romantic comedy…"

"It's Sweet Home Alabama."

"That's a romantic comedy." He concluded.

"I love it, deal with it."

"I'll make an effort and watch it with you."

"You will?" I smiled.

"Yes." He sat on the couch. "Come on." He signaled with his head for me to sit next to him.

I sat next to him and leaned against his chest.

"Wait…" He said.

I pulled away and, as I did, he stretched his legs on the couch and placed them behind my back. He tapped on his chest telling me to lay on top of his torso. I did, and he kissed the top of my head and wrapped his arms around me.

"Are you comfortable?" He asked.

I nodded. He stretched his arm to the floor, as he saw the blanket lying on the carpet and picked it up, unfolding it on top of me.

"Are you going to sleep?"

"Maybe…" I smiled against his chest.

"What about the movie?" He whispered.

"I don't need it anymore."

He caressed my head slowly with one hand and made circular moves on my back with the other.

"If you keep doing that I'll be gone in a few seconds." I informed.

"That's not a bad thing. You should rest." He looked over to the coffee table. "Your chocolate is going to get cold."

"Hmm…" I mumbled.

"What if I fall asleep too?"

I didn't reply. I was already slipping away. He kissed my hair and ran his thumb through my cheek. I rubbed my nose against his chest and kissed it gently. He booped my nose and I opened up my mouth quickly, catching his finger between my teeth. He chuckled and I let go of his finger kissing it. He fondled my face. I looked up and kissed him gently on the lips. Charles kissed my forehead and then glued our lips together in a long and wide kiss. I pulled my body up to be face to face with him, without ever breaking the kiss. His hands travelled up my back and held me tight. I was completely lost in his embrace. I put my fingers in his hair and bit his lip playfully, making him laugh. He broke the kiss and sat up taking my body with his. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he leaned back on the couch, allowing me to sit perfectly on top of him. He placed his hands on my thighs and squeezed them slightly. We were so close and it all was happening so fast, I didn't want it to end. His hands caressed my thighs and travelled up my body, going slightly under my shirt. He rested his hands on my lower back and nibbled on my neck, travelling down and kissing my collarbone. I wrapped my arms around his neck and he kissed me again. Suddenly my phone rang. We pulled away heavy breathing and he smiled, caressing my face.

I cleared my throat "Hello?"

"Where you sleeping, sweetie?" My mother replied from the other side of the line.

"Almost, I was watching a film in the living room." I got out of Charles lap and he leaned in to kiss my shoulder which made me smile. I ran my hand through his hair as I heard my mother speak.

"I spoke to your dad and he said you were upset when you talked to him earlier."

"It's fine, mom. I was just tired."

"Well, he's sorry he couldn't get off work."

"I know."

Charles kept giving little kisses on my shoulder and I brushed my nose against his.

"Did you have something to eat?"

"I wasn't hungry." I looked at the coffee table "I made hot chocolate, though."

"Alright, I just wanted to check up on you."

"Everything is ok." I said casually.

"Don't go to bed too late."

"I won't."

"Goodnight, dear, I love you."

"I love you too. Goodnight." I hung up the phone and put it back on the table

I turned to Charles and he kissed my forehead.

"Why do you always kiss my forehead?"

He kissed it again and smiled "I don't know. I'll stop if you want."

"No…" I said shaking my head and yawning.

"Come on." He grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the couch. "You need to sleep."

I nodded, turned off the DVD Player and took my phone. We went upstairs and I never let go of his hand.

"Wait, I have to brush my teeth." I went to the bathroom and two minutes later we were in my room.

"Ok, sleep time." He said.

I took off my robe and laid in bed. He pulled my blankets up and gave me a long kiss, stroking my head when he pulled away and then leaning his forehead against mine.

"I love you." He said.

I looked into his eyes and thought about those words for a while. I had never actually said it back, I didn't feel ready. I knew I had feelings for him and I knew they were strong and unlike anything I had ever felt before but was I in love with him? I couldn't say.

"You know you're the best thing that ever happened to me, right?" I asked.

He smiled. "You don't have to say you love me back, Lexie."

"It's not that…I just…I can't, because I want to be sure of it when I do."

He looked into my eyes and it looked like he was trying to decipher me.

"Just wait for me?" I pleaded.

"Always." He smiled affectionately.

"I'll get there." I whispered "I promise."

"Goodnight, Lexie."

"Goodnight."

He kissed me on the lips and I wanted to taste him forever but he had to go. He left my room and I could hear his steps as he went down the stairs. I heard the door shut and his car start. Seconds later, he drove off. My phone buzzed with a text **"My favorite color is green. Sleep well, darling."**

I hit reply **"You too, Charles. And thank you."**

I put my phone on the bed side table and closed my eyes, quickly falling asleep.


End file.
